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Chapter Text

Lonnie frowned at her hand and flexed her grip on her sword. There were still scales where she expected skin. Beside her, as he was the only thing holding her up, Jay swore softly and began moving faster helping Lonnie shuffle to where their friends were resting, and hopefully being healed

“I’m human,” Lonnie says almost absentmindedly and she tightened and loosened her grip on the handle. “This shouldn’t be happening.” The scales were rather pretty, Lonnie thought but the claws looked rather dangerous.

“Yeah, well that doesn’t look so human to me,” Jay said softly. Sometimes, you couldn’t tell who was human and who wasn’t, Jay thought to himself. “So maybe don’t wave it around until we can talk to someone about it.”

“Right,” Lonnie said as firmly as she could. She dropped her hand and did her best to hide it behind her and still keep her grip on her sword. When Jay and Lonnie made it back to where Aziz was resting against a pillar with Carlos and Raina looking over him.

“Lonnie!” Raina shouted when she saw the other girl. Lonnie managed a tired grin at her best friend and gratefully took the extra help hobbling over to sit next to Aziz.

“No sign of the parents?” Lonnie asked offhandedly. She was honestly surprised that her mother hadn't magically appeared and hugged her to death. She was equally surprised that Aziz’s parents had shown up yet. They had to have seen the fight as well as Shang and Mulan did.

“Evie said she would grab them when she was looking for a doctor,” Carlos said but his voice was distracted. Lonnie noticed the boy with the two-toned hair was pressing some sort of cloth to the back of Aziz’s head. He had really hit hard when Maleficent sent him flying. “How’s Mal?”

Jay and Raina eased Lonnie down carefully and Jay flopped to the floor. “She’s in the best condition out of all of us,” Jay told his friend wincing as his muscles twinged painfully. “Except she’s exhausted, I saw that much. Ben’s got her, though.”

“And we trust Ben after all this?” Carlos asked seriously. Raina, Lonnie, and Aziz kept quiet, this wasn’t their conversation.

Lonnie saw Jay give her and Aziz a considering look and then nodded. “Yeah, I think we might be able to trust some of these Auradon guys,” Jay said softly.

--

Mulan jumped into action the moment the spell was released. “Shang!” She shouted getting her husband’s attention. He was already at her side before she finished his name and they ran. Somewhere along the way, the Chinese couple was joined by the Sultana and her Sultan but they didn’t stop to talk.

Mulan had never been more frightened in her life than when she felt, rather than saw, Lonnie take her sword. Later, much, much later when she was thanking the ancestors for her daughter’s safety would she pause and apologize to her later father for putting him through the same thing. Now, at this moment, Mulan ran down the stairs, pushing past the crowds of royals screaming and trying to get down to gawk at the imprisoned Maleficent and the child who stopped her.

“Lonnie!” Mulan screamed. Where was her daughter? “Lanying! Where are you?”

“Aziz!” Mulan heard Aladdin shout. The kids weren’t immediately visible and Mulan was starting to worry. “Where is my son?”

“Excuse me!” A familiar voice called.

Mulan turned and found herself face to face with Evie, the girl who made clothing. “Sirs, Madams, they are over there!” Evie said, always the polite one, even after such a terrifying event. “Aziz is okay, his head is bleeding but he’s awake and Jay went to get Lonnie. They are over there.” She pointed to a place just beyond the throng of people crowding King Ben and Mal. “I’m getting a doctor now.”

Mulan left Shang and the Agrabahian Royalty and ran to where Evie had pointed. Mulan felt her breath leave her body when she saw Lonnie sitting next to Aziz. Alive. “Lonnie!” Mulan shouted. She ran to her child and dropped to her knees and gathered her into her arms. “Lonnie!”

“Mom, mom, I’m okay,” Lonnie said crushed to her mother’s chest. “I’m okay.”

Mulan felt her shoulders shake and tears run down her face. “My daughter, my child,” Mulan whispered into Lonnie’s hair in their native language. “I thought I lost you.”

“Never,” Lonnie replied in the same language. “I was taught by my mother.”

Mulan gave a watery laugh and pulled back she gently brushed across a bruise on Lonnie’s face and smiled in apology when the girl winced. “Your father is going to have a heart attack,” Mulan said cheerfully. “Between the two of us, and your brother always getting into trouble.”

Lonnie grinned. “You should have raised worse kids,” she said playfully.

“I guess I should have,” Mulan agreed and turned to Jay who sitting next to her daughter. Shang, Aladdin, and Jasmine had arrived. Mulan could feel Shang press behind her to pull Lonnie into a hug. Their older son stood back, watching his sister.

“How are you doing Jay?” Mulan asked looking the boy over. “I saw you drop when Maleficent did something. Are you alright?”

Jay flushed, beside her Mulan could hear her friend the Sultana checking on Carlos and Raina while Aladdin checked Aziz over. These kids probably never had someone check on them, Mulan thought to herself. She slowly reached out and dabbed her sleeve gently at the boy’s split eyebrow. “That has to hurt,” Mulan said doing her best to keep the blood out of his eyes.

“It’s fine,” Jay mumbled but didn’t pull away or push her back. “You should take care of Lonnie.”

“I will,” Mulan promised firmly. “But I’m also going to take care of you. The Royal family will take care of Mal and Aladdin, Jasmine and I will look after you, Evie, and Carlos.”

“Speaking of Evie,” Shang said looking around. “Where is she?”

“Probably trying to pry a healer away from King Beast and Queen Belle,” Raina spat bitterly. The copper-haired girl had a bow on her back that Mulan didn’t recognize. She wasn’t sure where the girl had gotten it but she wasn’t about to ask. “Aziz was the only prince involved so they aren’t going to be sending a rescue party.”

The group fell into an awkward silence before Lonnie cleared her throat. “That may be a good thing,” Lonnie said getting her parents’ attention. “Mom, dad. Something happened during the fight with Maleficent.”

Mulan watched as Jay’s eyes widened and he reached out to Lonnie. He seemed to ask her something without speaking. Mulan watched as her daughter tried to reassure him and continued.

“Mom, is there something you haven't told me?” Lonnie asked quietly. Mulan jerked in surprise, she wasn't sure why Lonnie would ask that and gasped when Lonnie lifted her hand, and she saw scales and claws.

Shang reacted before she did and gently pushed her hand down and looked over his shoulder to see if anyone other than their group had seen. “Mulan, get the kids out of here, take them back to our rooms,” Shang said. Mulan rarely heard Shang speak like that and she too felt frightened and concerned.

“Find Evie,” Shang told his son who nodded and took off.

“Aladdin, Jasmine,” Shang started turning to their friends. This couldn’t get out, no one in the United States of Auradon thought kindly of magic, let alone dragons. “Please.”

Jasmine placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder and nodded. “We won’t say a word. Take Aziz with you, we’ll arrange a healer that can be trusted and handle King Adam,” the Sultana said seriously. Mulan gave her friend a smile and felt a knot that had been building in her chest loosen slightly.

“Yeah, Adam and I have a lot to talk about,” Aladdin practically growled the normally cheerful Sultan was obviously upset that getting a healer for his son taking so long. Mulan knew that if one of the European princes had been injured a healer would have been dispatched right away. However, because Aziz was the only royalty involved Adam probably wouldn’t even notice, King Beast had always shown a preference for royalty who looked more like him. Never mind that Lonnie and Raina weren’t technically royalty at all.

Mulan looked at her daughter and her friends. Most of the kids were beaten and bruised, they all looked exhausted. She wished she could tell them that it was over, they had won, but the soldier knew better than that. It was just beginning.

--

“Ben, I need to find the others,” Mal said pressing close to the young King. Since the spell had been released swarms of guards and royals descended upon them. Ben had reached Mal first after Lonnie had forced the guards to back up. Mal hadn’t seen the other girl since Jay helped her stand, but she had looked like she was in rough shape. Mal shuddered as she remembered seeing Lonnie covered in flames. She had really thought the other girl was dead. Mal had never seen anyone die before. With death not possible on the Isle, the idea of one of her friends, because what else could Lonnie be at this point, being dead, forever, was too much.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Ben whispered into her hair. The boy king had wrapped his arms around Mal had hadn’t let go since. “I was so scared.”

“Me too,” Mal whispered back. “Please Ben, I need to know if they are okay.”

Ben nodded and turned to his father. The former High King was making arrangement for Maleficent to be dealt with. The last spell Mal had used had left the evil fairy alive but unconscious. Fairy Godmother wasn’t sure, when or if she would ever wake. The spell was remarkably similar to Maleficent’s own sleeping curse, Mal had heard them say.

“Prepare her for transportation back to the Isle,” King Adam said with a growl. Mal flinched back at his tone, he seemed particularly beastly after the mess that the coronation turned into. “Fairy Godmother, is the barrier back in place?”

“Oh yes,” Fairy Godmother said waving her wand over the evil fairy. Mal guessed she was making sure Maleficent wasn’t going to be getting up anytime soon “The barrier was created to self-heal, the hole likely wasn’t there long before it fixed itself.”

“Good,” the former High King said. “I want that thing out of the kingdom as quickly as possible.”

Mal flinched back again when the former beast turned to her. His eyes were still hard, the former High Queen had put a calming hand on King Adam’s shoulder but wasn’t doing much else. Mal was surprised by how much at that moment King Adam resembled the villains he so hated.

“It appears, we all owe you our thanks,” King Adam said looking Mal over. His voice was calm again, it was strong and heroic, almost, like it was each time he spoke to her The purple haired half-fairy noticed the King’s gaze stop at her hair for a long moment before moving on. He offered her a smile that showed more teeth than necessary. “It seems Ben’s faith in you wasn’t misplaced.”

“I had help,” Mal said quickly, Ben had shot his father a confused look. Something about the King’s tone had put his son on edge, Mal had felt it too. What did he see when he looked at her? Did he see a thing when he looked at her like he did with her mother? “Lonnie, Jay, and the others. They saved me.”

Kind Adam nodded almost absentmindedly and a voice cut off any reply the former High King would have made.

“King Adam, King Ben,” a man called out.

Mal turned her head and saw the Sultan marching toward them. Aziz’s father, her brain reminded her. The Sultana was not far behind her husband and she winked at Mal when they met eyes.

“Sultan Aladdin,” Kind Adam greeted. His voice was back to what Mal guessed was normal for the man. “How is your son?” The last part almost seemed like an afterthought, Mal noticed.

“Aziz is going to be alright,” Aladdin admitted and Mal felt something inside of her loosen. Aziz was one of the ones she was worried about he had been hit hard. “He’s in need of a healer but I’ve asked Genie to take care of it.”

King Adam managed to keep a straight face but Mal noticed a very quick look of distaste on his face when the Sultan mentioned the Genie. Right, the Genie was an ultimate magical being it would make sense King Adam wouldn’t like him.

“Generals Li and Fa have taken the other kids that were involved back to their rooms, it’s been a trying day,” Aladdin said stiffly, there was definitely something between the two of them, Mal thought to herself, and it wasn’t good. Aladdin leaned in close to Adam and spoke so softly that Mal couldn’t hear when he whispered something that made the King frown. Beside her, Ben stiffened and shook his head when Mal gave him a questioning look.

Mal had long since noticed that Ben had better hearing than most people. In fact, Ben had quite a few non-human features that seemed to be holdovers from Adam’s time as a beast. The roaring was just one of them.

“Ben,” King Adam said summoning his son to his side. Ben gave Mal a kiss on the side of her head and a whispered “sorry” and moved to join his father. Mal wrapped her arms around herself and watched her boyfriend go off to do “King Things” with his dad and the Sultan.

She needed to find her friends but Mal was so tired. Magic took a lot out of a person, especially if they weren’t used to using it. Even her eyes hurt.

“Mal,” a soft melodious voice said from beside her. The purple haired girl turned and saw Sultana Jasmine smiling at her. When had the Sultana come up to her? “I’m Jasmine, I don’t think we were ever properly introduced.”

“Uh, hi,” Mal said fumbling. They had never been formally introduced, she remembered seeing the woman at family day but that was about it. “I saw you at family day.”

Jasmine smiled comfortingly. “Yes, that was a busy day,” she said as if Mal hadn't caused Queen Leah to freak out and as if everyone hadn't started yelling at them. “I wanted to ask, are you okay, sweetie?”

Mal blinked no one had asked if she was okay. They had seen her standing and Maleficent prone and just assumed. Mal shook her head unable to voice her thoughts, and Jasmine gave her a sad smile. “Need a hug?” She asked softly.

“I dunno,” Mal whispered. She had never hugged an adult before. Ben had hugged her and sometimes Evie would when she got really excited but that was all of Mal’s limited experience with hugs.

“Do you want to try?” Jasmine asked. The woman held her arms out for Mal to step in if she wanted. Mal shuffled forward and stiffly let the woman wrap her arms around her. It was warm and nothing like she had ever felt before. Ben had hugged her but it didn’t feel anything like this. Jasmine was firm but Mal didn’t feel crushed or trapped. “Okay?” Jasmine questioned wondering if she should pull back, Mal didn’t want it to be over and fisted her hands in the Sultana’s top. “It’s okay, there is no rush,” Jasmine said soothingly.

Mal closed her eyes and leaned her head against Jasmine’s shoulder. Is this what a mother was like, Mal wondered.

--

“I can’t move,” Lonnie whined. The girl shifted and tugged at her bandages. The Sultan and Sultana had sent their most trusted ally, the Genie. The blue man had appeared in the room like he had always been there and immediately began tending to the injured kids. With a snap of his fingers, Aziz’s head was wrapped in bandages, with another snap Lonnie found herself completely covered as well.

“That would be the point,” Genie teased. “The bandages keep your insides from falling out.”

Lonnie groaned and flopped dramatically onto the bed. Beside her, Aziz and Jay were in much of the same position. Raina, Carlos, and Evie had escaped the Genie’s clutches with maybe a band-aid or two but nothing more substantial.

“You’re nothing but trouble, just like your momma.”

Lonnie groaned and purposefully ignored the small red dragon bending her fingers and poking at her scales. “Mushu,” Lonnie whined. Aziz and Jay both laughed at her plight and the Chinese girl shot them sleepy glares. “Do you know what’s wrong with me or not?”

The small dragon huffed and scaled her shoulder. “Listen here you, I am an almighty Guardian of the Fa Family and you will treat me with the respect I deserve!” Mushu said poking Lonnie on the nose.

“Kind of small for a guardian,” Jay muttered giving the dragon the side eye. Aziz laughed into his hands. He had grown up with Mushu as a babysitter the same as Lonnie and the little red dragon wasn’t going to take that lying down.

“Small? Small?” Mushu shouted pulling himself to his full height. “Kid, I’ll show you small!” Lonnie plucked the dragon from her shoulder and cupped her hands around him.

“Hey,” Lonnie said firmly. “Stop fighting with my friends and help me. What’s wrong with my hands?”

The dragon pushed her hands away and seemed to frown up at the girl. “I might have an idea,” Mushu admitted, almost reluctantly. “We need to wait for your mom to get back, though. I need to ask her some things.”

“So Aziz,” Genie said changing the conversation. “Jordan is going to be upset with you.” The blue being’s voice was playful but Aziz groaned and closed his eyes as if he were still in pain.

“Who’s Jordan?” Carlos asked clutching Dude to him. The little dog had found his way back to the boy just as they arrived at Shang and Mulan’s rooms.

“Jordan is Genie’s daughter,” Lonnie explained with a laugh. Jordan was short for her age. She had bright blue skin like her dad and pitch black hair. “She’s nine and declared herself Aziz’s best friend and protector. She won’t be happy that Aziz went and got himself hurt.”

“Aww that’s sweet,” Evie said softly. Evie looked as tired as the rest of them and was curled up in a conjured chair that Genie had provided. Lonnie’s parents had ducked out to grab food for the kids leaving them in the Genie’s capable hands.

“Hey, where did my brother go?” Lonnie asked the room. Zhou, the oldest son of, Mulan and Shang named after his late grandfather, had disappeared shortly after Mulan and Shang had left. The older boy was rather quiet and introspective and had a deep love for music. He had graduated from Auradon prep one year ago but stuck around as an assistant coach for the Tourney and Sword-and-Shield teams.

“He went to get your dad’s sword,” Aziz said sheepishly. “I, uh, dropped it during the fight and I didn’t want to tell your dad.”

Lonnie snorted. Aziz had always been a little intimidated by Li Shang. “Hey!” Aziz said reaching over Jay to swap at Lonnie playfully. Jay grumbled good-naturedly and let the other boy lean over him. “Your dad is scary, okay? I’m not telling him I lost his sword.”

“Just because you’re afraid-”

“Mal!”

--
Mal pushed open the door and nearly dropped from relief. Everyone was okay. Jay, Aziz, and Lonnie were bandaged up and Carlos and Evie looked exhausted but no one was dead. “You’re all okay,” Mal said stumbling into the room. Genie moved to help the purple haired girl find a seat next to Evie and snapped his fingers. Something cold appeared on the back of Mal’s neck and after the initial flinch as the sensation, she groaned happily. “Thank you,” she said closing her eyes. The cold felt amazing and helped the pounding headache that had continued to build since the battle.

“What happened, Mal?” Carlos asked from behind Dude. The smaller boy had the dog in his lap with his arms around him clutching his furry friend to him tightly. “Are you okay?”

“Maleficent is being sent back to the Isle,” Mal said, not using her mother’s familiar title. “She’s, asleep, Fairy Godmother said the spell I used was like Maleficent’s sleeping curse, like the one she put on Aurora.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, no one appeared to know how to react.

“Is that a dragon?” Mal asked looking intently at Lonnie’s hands.

“Oh,” Lonnie said blinking at the dragon in her hands. “Yeah, this is Mushu. He’s my mom’s family guardian.”

“And that’s Genie,” Aziz piped up. “He’s my dad’s friend.”

The little dragon greeted her happily and the Genie waved so hard she felt a breeze in the still room. “Oh,” Mal said lamely. “Nice to meet you?”

“Oh there is something else you should know,” Lonnie said. “We have a lot to tell you.”

--

Mulan rolled her eyes and snatched the bag of chips from Shang’s overburdened hands and added them to her collection of food. Mulan and Shang had volunteered to get the kids something to eat while Genie fixed them up. Mulan had made the executive decision to step outside and give the kids a moment to decompress without a bunch of adults standing around hovering.

Genie had happily agreed to pop off and grab Mushu, the only person who Mulan thought could help with Lonnie’s strange problem and then they stepped outside. The moment they closed the door Mulan had stepped into her husband’s arms and shook.

Shang wrapped his arms around her tightly and whispered that Lonnie was okay, over and over. She knew this but all Mulan could see was her daughter fighting a dragon. “She could have died,” Mulan said softly.

“But she didn’t,” Shang said. “She’s okay. Tired, a little banged up, but she’s okay.”

“She’s turning into a dragon,” Mulan rebutted. This had to be her fault somehow. Mushu was Mulan’s guardian. Before that, the Great Stone Dragon had served her family and acted as their guardian. There had to be a connection.

“We don’t know that,” Shang pointed out. “Mushu is checking it out and Genie might know something.”

“What are we going to do?” Mulan asked Shang. “This isn’t something we can fight.”

Shang pulled away and put his hands on Mulan’s shoulders. “We’re going to get food for the kids, and then we are going to sit down and figure out what is going on, then we handle it, as a family,” Shang said. Mulan wondered if he was really as sure as he sounded. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

Mulan smiled at the thought. Her husband was right. They would handle it, whatever it meant. “Do you think we have enough food?” Mulan asked looking at the various snacks in their arms.

“Probably no,” Shang said dryly. “But Genie can just zap something up if need be.”

“That’s true,” Mulan agreed. “I’ll get the door.”

Mulan pulled the door open and stopped short. “Shhhh,” she whispered to Shang who moved to ask why she had stopped.

Shang peered over Mulan’s shoulder and smiled. Genie and Mushu were in the middle of the room whispering softly because all the kids had gone to sleep. Jay, Lonnie, and Aziz had cuddled together on the large bed that Genie had zapped up because it wasn’t there before.

Across the room, Carlos had curled up with Dude laying on his chest and a small fox in his arms that Mulan could only guess was Raina. She had never seen the girl’s fox form, as far as she knew Lonnie hadn’t either, but something had obviously changed to make her use it openly. And in a large squishy chair, Mal and Evie were curled together.

Mulan and Shang quietly dumped the food onto a nearby table and moved to stand with Genie and Mushu. “How long have they been out,” Mulan asked softly.

“About fifteen minutes,” Genie said looking at the kids fondly. “They’re all exhausted.”

“Me too,” Shang admitted. “And I didn’t even do anything.”

“Lonnie’s arm went back to normal,” Mushu said climbing Mulan’s hand when the woman offered it to him. “She didn’t notice because she was almost out when it happened, but the scales are gone.”

“What does it mean Mushu?” Mulan asked her guardian. “What’s happening to my daughter?”

The dragon sighed and carefully rubbed his muzzle. “Mal said when Lonnie broke Maleficent’s staff she saw a dragon form over Lonnie,” Mushu said not yet answering Mulan’s question. Mulan shook her head, she hadn’t seen it, and beside her, Shang did the same.

“When she described it,” the dragon said. “She described him perfectly.”

“Who?” Mulan asked but somehow she already knew.

“The Great Stone Dragon.”

Chapter Text

“What,” Mal said flatly, it wasn’t a question. Lonnie winced, she could tell Ben was going about this all the wrong way. The rest of the room seemed to agree. “You want to give me a medal for putting my mother in a coma?”

It was the day after everything. The kids had woken up in Mulan and Shang’s room with the Lonnie and Aziz’s parents crammed into chairs the Genie had likely conjured for them and Lonnie’s brother crashed out on the floor. It seemed they hadn’t wanted to leave the kids alone.

Lonnie had laughed when Jay and Aziz sleepily grumbled that they hadn’t been cuddling and everyone had jumped when Raina went from fox to human again, stopping any kind of fight that had been brewing.

Raina had waved off any questions about her fox-form and distracted everyone with the snack food Mulan and Shang had brought in last night. Lonnie made a mental note to corner her friend later and talk about it.

“Oh this going to be good,” Mushu muttered from Lonnie's shoulder. The small dragon had taken up that position with Lonnie and hadn’t moved. “Hand me the popcorn.”

“Shhh,” Lonnie hissed but gave the dragon the tin of caramel popcorn she had been poking at. “Don’t get crumbs on me.” Mushu rolled his eyes and slithered down Lonnie's arm, onto the bed where he watched the coming explosion eagerly.

Lonnie wished her parents or Zhou were there, or Aziz’s parents, anyone really, to act as a buffer. The adults had been summoned by the former high-king leaving the kids in the still-crowded suite Mulan and Shang had been provided. Lonnie wasn’t sure why King Ben wasn’t there as well but she figured King Adam was hadn’t wanted his son’s first day as High King to be handling Maleficent. The young king had appeared shortly after the adults had left and immediately turned to Mal.

“You did the United States of Auradon a great favor,” King Ben said earnestly. It was clear the cheerful king didn’t see the problem with what he was saying. Aziz groaned softly and even Raina looked exasperated at the boy. Carlos watched with wide-eyes, obviously expecting Mal to explode and Evie shook her head and attacked her nails with a nail-file.

Lonnie watched Mal take a deep breath and try to calm herself. Lonnie was proud of the other girl, Lonnie wasn’t sure that she could be as calm as Mal was being right then.

“Let’s not even get into what you are giving me the medal for,” Mal began. “What about the others? I didn’t do it alone.” The purple haired girl gestured to the rest of the room and King Ben grimaced.

Lonnie scoffed and stole some popcorn from her mother’s guardian. Mushu snapped at her hand grumpily but Lonnie ignored him.

King Ben shifted uncomfortably and Mushu muttered. “That boy is about to put his foot in it,” the dragon said softly. Lonnie nodded silently.

“Lonnie and Aziz will receive official ‘thank yous’ during the ceremony,” King Ben said slowly and Aziz went stone-faced. The Agrabahian boy stood suddenly and marched from the room. The door to the suite slammed loudly making everyone jump.

“What was that about?” Carlos asked staring at the door.

Raina scoffed and eyed the young King cooly. “That is King Adam punishing Aziz for his 'feud' with the Sultan and Sultana.”

King Ben grimaced again but didn’t refute what had Raina said. “You know it’s not that simple,” King Ben said softly. “Aladdin has been making things difficult for me and my dad since the coronation, we can’t reward him for that.”

“Whatever,” Raina muttered pushing herself up. “I’m going to check on Aziz, come get us when the King is gone.”

Lonnie watched her friend leave with a heavy heart. Part of her wanted to join them knowing what was coming, but her parents had told her not to leave until they were sure she wouldn’t grow scales again.

“What the hell was that?” Jay demanded. Jafar’s son looked angry, and when he turned to Lonnie the girl shrugged and stole more popcorn from Mushu.

“Yeah Ben, what the hell?” Mal demanded.

King Ben sighed and flopped down on an empty chair. “It’s politics,” King Ben said. He sounded tired, old beyond his years. “Aziz is my friend, if I could I’d give him a medal too, but I can’t just be a friend right now. It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it,” Mal said firmly. “And what about Lonnie? She fought Maleficent too!”

Lonnie hunched over and didn’t make eye contact with King Ben he shot a look her way.

“That’s even more complicated when Aziz,” King Ben said sighing again. “Okay, so Lonnie isn't’ technically a princess or royalty of any kind.”

“So?” Jay said with his eyes narrowed.

“But she could have been,” King Ben said trying to explain. “When the United States of Auradon formed we offered Mulan and Shang the opportunity to become King and Queen but they turned it down to keep the Emperor in power. It was a big mess so officially no matter how much my mother and father like her and her parents there are certain things she can’t do.”

“Like get a medal?” Mal asked dryly. It didn’t make much sense to her and from the looks on the other Isle kid’s faces, it didn’t make sense to them either.

“Basically,” King Ben said. “It’s like this because she isn’t a princess, Lonnie is expected to fight and protect the kingdom, so the rationale is, why praise someone for doing what they are supposed to do? We don’t reward people for not-stealing, it’s just what people are supposed to do.”

“It’s fine,” Lonnie said. Jay and Mal looked furious and even Carlos and Evie looked ready to argue. “I didn’t fight Maleficent for a stupid medal. I did it to protect everyone and stop her. I don’t need it.”

“So wait,” Mal said. “How can I get rewarded for this? I’m not a princess.”

“It’s because you’re Ben’s girlfriend,” Evie chimed in. “Isn’t it? You’re trying to make the Kingdom accept Mal, and this is a good way to do it. If she is publically rewarded for beating her mom then everyone will see that she’s good, even if she did use magic.”

Lonnie could see at that moment how well trained Evie was in this kind of thing. Audrey might have claimed that the Evil Queen’s titles were stripped and that Evie had no standing but the blue-haired girl had been raised as a princess and it showed.

“Basically,” King Ben agreed. He rubbed his face tiredly. “I don’t want it to be this way, I just want everything over with and for us all to move on, but I can’t. I have to do what is best for the Kingdom and this is it.”

“Well take your medal and shove it,” Mal snarled. “I don’t want it and I don’t need it. I don’t need Auradon’s approval, especially if it means the rest of them can’t get it either. You didn’t even say anything about Jay, and Carlos and Evie helped too. What about them huh?”

King Ben shook his head and Mal snarled again. “No, the answer is no, I don’t want it,” Mal said firmly.

Lonnie watched the young king slump in his chair and pushed himself up. “Mal,” he said softly. He reached out to her but the purple haired girl jerked away and shook her head.

“I can’t be around you right now,” Mal said not looking at him. “Just, go.”

Lonnie’s eyes followed the young king as he left the room and the remaining kids sat in silence.

“Is it always like this?” Mal asked. Her voice was defeated and tired. “I thought we had left this kind of stuff back on the Isle.”

Lonnie shrugged and grabbed another handful of popcorn from Mushu. The dragon had watched silently, something Lonnie had been grateful for, the last thing she needed was a smart-mouth dragon making things worse. “It’s not entirely his fault you know,” Lonnie said. “He’s just as stuck as the rest of us. Even as High King, he can’t do whatever he wants, that’s not how it works anymore.”

“I hate this,” Mal said.

“Me too.”

--

“I’m so bored!” Carlos ignored Lonnie’s whining and continued working with a mass of wires and electronic parts in his lap. Dude was curled up next to him on the bed and whined when Carlos went too long without petting him.

After Ben had left Jay had disappeared to check on Aziz and Raina when Lonnie asked him too. The girl was worried about her friends but was confined to her parent's room until everyone was sure she wouldn’t grow scales without warning. Carlos got the impression that magical transformations were frowned upon in Auradon, which was why they hadn’t talked about Raina yet. Mal and Evie had volunteered to get Lonnie a change of clothes.

Mushu had stolen Lonnie phone and was playing candy-crush, somehow able to easily ignore the whining girl. Lonnie, evidently, didn’t do well cooped up.

Carlos watched Lonnie pace back and forth, the length of the room and frowned, he saw scales. “Lonnie,” Carlos said getting her attention. “Your arms.”

Lonnie stopped and Carlos saw Mushu pull away from the game and Lonnie swore. “Not again!” She said rubbing her arm. He hand, past her wrist and almost up to her elbow were covered in scales and Carlos could see claws on her hand as well.

Mushu abandoned the phone and rushed to Lonnie’s side. The girl obediently held her arm out for the guardian to inspect. “Hmmm, just like before,” the dragon muttered poking at Lonnie’s scales with a claw. “Can you feel this?”

Lonnie frowned an nodded. “It’s pressure, more than anything,” Lonnie explained.

Carlos shuffled closer and looked at the scales curiously. He hadn’t seen anything like this before and while he was more of a mad scientist than an evil wizard, it was fascinating. “What do you think brought it on?” He asked tilting his head.

“Dunno,” Lonnie muttered flexing her left hand, which was normal. “I didn’t even notice until you said something.”

“It’s going away,” Mushu said watching the scales fade away. “Do you feel any different?”

Lonnie shrugged with one shoulder and took her hand back when the scales and claws had melted away. “I can’t feel it when it changes,” she said flexing both hands. “It always feels normal to me.”

The little red dragon poked at her hands one last time and then returned to Lonnie’s phone and his game. “It might be tied to emotion,” Mushu said thoughtfully. “The first time it happened during a fight and then just now you were upset.”

Carlos nodded in agreement. “It went away when you calmed down,” he pointed out.

Lonnie frowned at her hands and flopped down on the bed. “I’m never going to get to leave this room,” Lonnie whined into the mattress.

Carlos snorted at her overdramatic and returned to his project. “You’re worse than Jay,” Carlos told her. “Anytime he’d be confined to our hideout, he’d turn into a big baby.”

Lonnie pulled her head up and stuck her tongue out at Carlos. “I’m just bored, and everyone is gone and you’re busy with that whatever it is,” she said before dropping her head back down.

This side of Lonnie was new to Carlos, she was playful in a way that he hadn’t seen before. To be fair Carlos and the others had only really interacted with the Chinese girl as acquaintances before, as Mal hadn’t wanted them to get too close. But now, since they had chosen good, they were free to be friends. Something that Carlos was still somewhat unsure about.

“It’s a music player,” Carlos explained motioning to the project in his lap. “Jay found it and gave it to me.” Politely neither of them commented on how Jay found the item. “I want to see how it works and if I can make it better.”

Lonnie pushed herself and rested her head on her hands. “You’re pretty good at that stuff, huh?” She said looking at him. Carlos flushed slightly and shrugged.

“I guess,” he said. “Some of the stuff here I’ve never seen before so I spent a lot of time just taking things apart.”

“So you didn’t get a lot of electronics on the Isle then,” she said more than asked.

“No,” Carlos shook his head. “We get plenty of electronics, but it’s all old and busted. Not that it matters, we didn’t get radio stations and the only TV channel we ever got was the state news.”

Lonnie frowned. “Well that sucks,” she said plainly. “It sounds awful when I say it out loud, but sometimes I forget about how terrible the Isle must have been for you all.” Lonnie drew a pattern on the bedspread with her finger and paused. “I’m sorry.”

Carlos hunched over at the thought of the Isle and shook his head. “It’s fine, you’ve never been there and there isn’t a reason for you to think about it, or know how awful it was,” Carlos said. He reached out and gave Dude a stroke on his back. “And it doesn’t matter now, we never have to go back.”

“Yeah, never,” Lonnie promised. “Mom and Dad would throw a fit if King Ben or King Adam even thought about sending you all back, and I know the Sultan and Sultana would too.”

Carlos gave her a look. Was she telling the truth? “Really?” he asked.

Lonnie nodded. “Oh yeah, from what I understand they were against the whole Isle thing anyway, the Huns were bad news sure, but that’s just the way the world was back then, you fought wars and sometimes you won or lost,” she explained. “One time Mom told me that the only difference between us and the villains was that we wrote the stories, so of course we wrote ourselves as the heroes, after all, who would cast themselves as the villains?”

--

“Do your nails stay painted when you have claws?” Evie asked curiously. She had wrangled Raina, Lonnie, and Aziz into nail painting. Lonnie was having her nails redone because life-or-death battles with an evil fairy weren’t good for manicures.

The group of kids had come together again and were still taking over Mulan and Shang’s suite. Zhou had returned to the rooms, stone-faced but refused to share anything until his parents returned. Lonnie had immediately worked to cheer her brother up and pointed Jay at the older boy for sword and shield pointers. The two boys had worked on footwork as best they could in the small space. Carlos had retreated to continue his work on the music player and Mal had sat back watching the group. It was obvious to Evie that she was still thinking about what Ben had said to her and the conversation that morning.

It had to be hard for Mal, she really liked Ben but with him came a Kingdom and certain duties and responsibilities that Mal wasn’t ready for. It made Evie’s heart hurt for her friend but also the part of her that was raised to be a princess was the reasoning behind what Ben had done and wished she could explain it to her friend. Mal worked on the idea that power was physical and Maleficent had never had the patience for politics. Of course, Maleficent had ruled the Isle with an iron fist and everyone feared her name but because of that she had never played the political game like the Evil Queen or even Jafar had done. That was why when she eventually sought out minions, Maleficent went to Evie and Jay’s parents.

While Maleficent was in charge and kept her spot because of her reputation and actions, the Evil Queen and Jafar had ruled the political side. Jafar and his store had controlled the supplies the Isle received. People either had to scavenge their own supplies or buy them from Jafar and then they had to keep the supplies. Jay was well known for sneaking in and stealing what people had bought only a few days prior.

Evie’s mother had been Maleficent’s information broker. The Evil Queen knew everything that went on, on the Isle. Nothing escaped her gaze and therefore no one had been able to plot to overthrow the evil fairy.

Cruella had acted as an enforcer of sorts, someone who took care of the small things that didn’t warrant Maleficent’s own attention. That was why Carlos was likely just as confused as Mal when it came to the political machinations that were plaguing Auradon. Evie wished she could explain things to Mal if only to save her further heart-break but Evie had tried. Mal was just too, fae for politics.

“I don’t think so,” Lonnie said thoughtfully, answering Evie’s question. “The polish stayed when my hand went back to normal, though.”

Evie hummed thoughtfully and finished the last coat of peach on Lonnie’s hand. “For the best I suppose,” Evie said playfully. “A handful of pretty peach claws wouldn’t be as fierce.”

“Excuse you,” Mushu interjected from his spot next to Lonnie on the bed the group had hijacked. “My claws only add to my ferocity.” Mushu waved his delicately painted claws in Evie’s face and growled to prove his point. The Isle girl had painted his claws a light lavender that he loved more than he would admit.

Evie laughed and nodded her head in deference. “This red would look great on your Aziz,” Evie said plucking the bottle from the bed and waved it in front of the boy’s face.

Aziz grinned and nodded. “Oh yeah!” Aziz cheered. “Make me pretty, princess.”

Evie beamed at Aziz and quickly shooed Lonnie out of the way to begin Aziz’s nails. “You have fantastic nails,” Evie complimented as she worked on the young prince’s nails.

“Thanks,” Aziz said watching Evie work. “You’re very good at this, much better than Jordan. She always gets nail polish all over my hands.”

“Lonnie was the same way,” Zhou interjected. Evie’s eyes flickered up to see Lonnie’s older brother and Jay settle down. Zhou looked a lot like his father, Evie noticed, where Lonnie favored her mother, except he had Mulan’s build. “She would beg to paint my nails when we were kids and if I let her, she’d paint my hands more than my nails.”

Lonnie rolled her eyes and ignored her brother’s teasing. “I was still learning like Jordan is now,” Lonnie said primly.

The group of kids laughed at the siblings and their teasing and fell back into their individual and group activities. Evie listened with half an ear to the various conversations going on around her. Aziz, Lonnie, and Raina were talking about the meeting that was going on, still. Lonnie and Aziz’s parents were still gone and when Zhou rejoined them he didn’t have any idea when they would rejoin them. Evie knew everyone was waiting for news on Maleficent and what came next.

There had been no news of what had happened with Lonnie, whether the Kingdom was up in arms about the incident with the wand, or really any news at all. It was frustrating but they had all managed to stay upbeat and tried to keep their minds off things, no matter how much it wasn’t working.

Evie could see the fear in Lonnie’s face, it was echoed on Zhou’s because he worried for his sister. Mal was confused, she was angry and very, very sad at the same time. Raina was angry, Evie had come to understand that Raina was always angry but she could also see fear for her friend in her eyes. The Prince of Agrabah was also concerned but there was anger there as well, which Evie could now put a source too. Even her fellow Isle kids were concerned, Jay was worried and Carlos was mostly confused and watchful.

The suite was practically a powder keg, ready to explode, and Evie knew all they needed was a spark and she had the bad feeling that the spark was about to light everything on fire.

That was when Mulan and Shang returned.

--

Carlos could see right away that something was wrong. Mulan and Shang were stone-faced when they entered the room. The good mood shifted quickly and dramatically. “Aziz, Shang will walk you to your parent’s room in a moment,” Mulan said softly. Carlos felt a chill go down his spine, something had happened.

“Mom?” Lonnie questioned from her spot next to Raina and Evie. “What happened?”

Carlos watched Mulan sigh and she and Shang shared a look, it was considering. “King Adam asked that we not tell you,” Mulan explained. “But, High King Ben overruled him.”

Carlos blinked in surprise. He wasn’t overly surprised about King Beast’s action but Ben, overruling his father was new. Maybe he had taken something away from the mess that morning.

“When Jane grabbed the wand and created the hole that allowed Maleficent to escape the Isle the barrier didn’t heal as quickly as Fairy Godmother expected it too,” Shang said taking over for his life.

Carlos couldn’t breathe. His hands went ice cold and there was a loud roaring in his ears. No, no, no.

“There were some villains that managed to escape the barrier before it healed itself,” Mulan said calmly. Carlos swore his heart had stopped beating at that moment. He knew, he absolutely knew what the woman was going to say next. He knew it in his heart.

“Jafar, the Evil Queen, and Cruella have escaped the Isle of the Lost,” Mulan finished but Carlos didn’t hear any of it. His head swam and he sucked air in like he was drowning. He couldn’t breathe.

Cruella was free.

Carlos loudly sucked in more air and clawed at his shirt collar, it was too tight. He couldn’t breathe. All around him, people were yelling but Carlos couldn’t breathe. He was dying.

His chest hurt and his lungs burned from lack of oxygen but he couldn’t make his chest work. He couldn’t get air in or out, he was going to suffocate.

“Back up,” A voice said. Carlos didn’t recognize it and he didn’t care, because he was going to die.

“Can’t breathe,” Carlos forced out. Maybe they didn’t know he was dying.

“Yes you can,” the voice said soothingly. “Yes you can, I know it’s hard but try for me, okay?”

Carlos shook his head and everything spun. “Can’t!” He cried. “Can’t!” Something cold touched his hand and Carlos jerked away.

“Shhh, it’s okay, it’s just Dude,” the voice said softly. “He’s worried about you. We all are.”

Dude? Carlos reached out blindly and drew the dog into his lap. Dude whined and licked at Carlos’ face.

“See?” The voice said calmly. “You’re doing it.”

Carlos forced his chest to move and took in a long breath. His chest still burned but the soothing voice and Dude in his lap helped. Carlos struggled for what felt like forever but the voice and Dude stayed with him. Eventually, Carlos found himself breathing normally again and his vision returned. Carlos felt his cheeks burn with humiliation and he hid his face in Dude’s fur.

“Are you alright?” Carlos peeked up and was shocked to find Li Shang kneeling in front of him. He had expected Jay or even Mulan to have helped him, he couldn’t believe that the great General had helped him.

Carlos nodded and cuddled Dude closer. The General smiled softly and pushed himself back, to give Carlos some more space. “I had Mulan take everyone outside,” Shang said anticipating Carlos’ question. The room was quiet and Carlos could see that he and Shang were alone. “They were all really worried about you, Mal said you hadn’t had a panic attack in a while. They’re pretty scary, huh?”

“Yeah,” Carlos whispered and swallowed harshly.

“Need some water?” Shang asked. He didn’t wait for Carlos to answer and stood up. Carlos tracked him moving across the suite and pulled a bottle of water off the table and returned it to his place in front of Carlos. “Here you go.”

Carlos took the water with a shaky hand and popped the top. He took a deep pull of water and was grateful for Shang’s silence, Carlos had experienced panic attacks for years. They were always triggered by his mother and the thought of her being here, where she could get him was more than enough to spark one.

“Did my mom really get free?” Carlos asked quietly. He hid his face in Dude’s fur as if the dog could protect him when he heard Shang sigh.

“Yeah, she did,” Shang said just as softly as Carlos’ question.

“What are we going to do?” Carlos asked. He was utterly lost. He couldn’t, absolutely could not face his mother like Mal had faced hers, he was too afraid.

“We’ll protect you,” Shang said. “All four of you. We won’t let them hurt you again.” Shang reached out slowly and gave Carlos plenty of time to say no or otherwise indicate that his touch was unwelcome. Carlos stiffened when the man’s hand fell on his shoulder.

“They won’t hurt you here Carlos,” Shang said “She won’t hurt you again. I promise.”

Carlos wanted to believe the man. He wanted to believe with everything he had that Li Shang the great hero could protect him from his mom but something deep inside of him wouldn’t let him. He had feared his mother for as long as he could remember and a promise from a man he hardly knew did little to wipe away that fear.

Shang smiled sadly like he knew what Carlos was thinking and gave Carlos’ shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Ready to face the masses? I know the lot of them are really worried about you.” Shang asked.

Carlos hesitated. Jay, Mal, and Evie had all seen him during and after a panic attack before but Lonnie, Raina, and Aziz hadn’t. What if they thought it was weak? What if they made fun of him?

“If not, we can lock them out and order pizza,” Shang said mischievously. “One thing I’ve enjoyed about Auradon Prep is a great pizza delivery place not far from the school. We could get a big pizza and not share it.”

Carlos grinned into Dude’s fur and shook his head. “Jay would break the door down to get to food,” Carlos said almost regretfully.

Shang sighed. “So would my wife,” he said as if he were sharing a deep dark secret with the boy.

Carlos snorted with laughter and Dude licked his face. Things weren’t perfect, not by a long shot, but at that moment, Carlos thought that maybe things would be okay. They weren’t alone anymore.

Chapter Text

Jay’s life had never been more interesting. First, Ben’s coronation had been an experience in and of itself. Then, Maleficent attacked and with that came Lonnie’s transformation and from there, things just seemed to continue to snowball.

“You’re lucky it’s just Mushu staying behind,” Mulan told Lonnie. Jay had promised stick with Lonnie today as her parents were leaving. They still didn’t have a way to stop or even to really understand why she kept transforming and Mulan and Shang had asked the VKs help the Auradon kids keep an eye on Lonnie. “Aladdin wanted to leave Genie.”

Jay snorted to cover his laughter. If there was one thing he had learned from the close quarter's everyone had been keeping since the coronation it was that Genie was hilarious and that the Beast King hated Genie.

Genie being the ultimate magical being really rubbed the royal the wrong way.

“I’m glad he didn’t,” Lonnie mumbled. Jay could see that she thought Mushu was more than enough. “We’re going to get enough attention as it is.”

That was true. The few times Jay had ventured out he had noticed an increase in the stares from the other students. Jay heard Mulan sigh and he saw the woman take her daughter’s hands.

“It’s just for a few months,” Mulan said soothingly. “Then the winter holidays will arrive and then we will regroup together. The wards around the school will keep the villains out and Mushu will help you control the dragon spirit. Plus, Zhou is here still helping Coach. You kids aren’t alone, not anymore.”

Jay felt that last part was more to him than Lonnie but he knew what she was saying was true. The Vks had never had more support, it was a little daunting. Lonnie and her crew have come with parental support that left the VKs reeling. Carlos had spoken softly, in a broken voice about how Shang had helped him after the panic attack. Mal had even talked about the hug Jasmine had given her. Evie had mentioned that Mulan wanted to help Evie expand her clothing line. Jay could remember how Mulan had used the sleeve of her fancy clothing to stop the bleeding from his split eyebrow the day of the coronation and of Aziz waving as they picked up their stipend checks and the talk of Mal’s anonymous donor.

“It’ll be okay,” Mulan said, and Jay actually believed her. “It will all work out.”

The Generals left soon after. Jay and Lonnie joined the others in saying goodbye to Aladdin and Jasmine as they left later that day. Jay had laughed when Jasmine pressed a kiss to Aziz’s forehead while the other boy whined, but that laughter turned to confusion when Jasmine turned on him with a mischievous look in her eyes and pressed a kiss to Jay’s forehead just the same.

Aziz had smirked at Jay’s gobsmacked face and the two quickly devolved into a wrestling match that had the others laughing.

Aladdin cheerfully broke up the play fight and promised aid if they needed it and said that they would be joining the Generals for the Winter Holidays and he looked forward to seeing them all then. When the Sultan and Sultana finally left Jay felt himself a little sad. He had never expected to feel that way about heroes let alone two of his father’s greatest enemies but there was something about two couples that had taken an interest in the VKs that made Jay like them.

“So now what?” He asked the group. Mal, normally the leader, looked just as confused as Jay did. They had never planned beyond the wand, they couldn’t bear too.

It was Raina who answered. “Well, I’ve got some homework to do before classes start back tomorrow,” the girl admitted. Classes had been suspended, first for the coronation and then for the mayhem that happened during. The parents had wanted time to check on their children after Maleficent had appeared.

“Me too,” Aziz admitted sheepishly. “Want to come back to my room and work on it together? You guys are welcome too, even if you don’t have homework. I’ve got games and stuff if you don’t want to study.”

“I’m in,” Jay said. He wasn’t eager to do homework but he had developed a taste for video games since coming to Auradon.

“Same,” Carlos seconded, Jay knew he wanted to play video games because the nerd had already done his homework.

Jay saw Lonnie give Evie and Mal a curious look and the two girls nodded. “Great! Come on.”

--

Raina liked Aziz’s room. The young prince had a private room, something that was rare at Auradon Prep. “So yeah,” Aziz said lamely. “This is my room, feel free to sit where ever, uh the bathroom that door.” Raina didn’t bother to look at where Aziz was pointing she had been there multiple times.

“Oh, please stay out of that room,” Aziz said point to what Raina knew to be where Aziz did his prayers. “Uh, Jay, you can use it with me if you want when it’s time for prayer.”

Jay blinked in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t know we could do that here,” he said obviously surprised.

“What,” Aziz said flatly. Raina sat up from where she had flopped down on Aziz’s bed. Across the room from where she had dumped her books, Lonnie looked just as shocked. Even the VKs could tell that something was wrong.

“Well,” Jay said cautiously. “No one ever said anything, and the one time I tried to leave class the teacher threw a fit, so I didn’t think we could do that here.”

Raina watched Aziz take a deep breath. “Auradon had several prayer rooms set up on campus for just this reason,” Aziz explained. There is even on near your rooms, mom and dad were firm about that. They weren’t sure if Jafar had raised you as a believer but they wanted to be sure you could pray if you wanted.”

“Why didn’t anyone say anything?” Mal demanded. Raina could see that the purple haired girl looked ready to spit fire, as it were. “We’ve been here for months and I know this had been bothering Jay.”

“I thought you knew,” Aziz admitted, slumping over on the edge of the bed where he had settled himself. “I didn’t know they hadn’t told you, you have to know that Jay. I wouldn’t have kept this from you.”

Raina watched Jay look at Aziz. The two boys were rather similar, she had noticed. For all that Aziz was the son of a former street-rat, Jay resembled the story of Aladdin better than the man’s son did. From what Raina could remember of her history Jafar had been a master manipulator more than anything and it was interesting that he had raised his son to resemble his enemy so much. Evidently, Jay found something in Aziz’s eyes that he needed to see and just nodded.

“Yeah, man,” Jay said. “I know you wouldn’t have.”

The room settled quickly after that. It was awkward and Raina knew Lonnie and Aziz were trying to think of anything else the Isle Kids hadn’t been told since coming to Auradon Prep and the Isle Kids were likely trying to come to terms what was going on. It had to be tough. Not only had the Maleficent thing happened, but they still had to go to school tomorrow with a bunch of hero kids that were scared of them. This was just one more mess up on Auradon’s part in on a long list of mess ups.

When Aziz rose to go do his prayers Jay had almost, hesitantly joined him leaving the girls and Carlos sitting in Aziz’s room all of them watching the door to the prayer room close.

“Is there anything else we should know?” Mal demanded. “They didn’t tell us shit about this place, most of the rules we’ve learned from you guys.”

Raina rubbed her face, careful not to smudge her make-up and sighed. “The problem is Auradon had a lot of unspoken but enforceable rules,” Raina said.

“Evie, you should ask Doug for a couple of the school handbook,” Lonnie suggested. “Get a copy, that way if anyone accuses you of breaking a rule you have hard copy proof that you didn’t.”

“That’s a good idea,” Raina agreed. “Doug will happily help, he seems to really like you.”

Evie blushed a pretty pink and Raina shook her head, it was amazing how everything the blue-haired girl did looked so damn perfect. “Oh, if you do ever get in trouble, refuse to talk to the teacher alone, especially if it’s a male teacher Mal, Evie,” Raina said. “It’s bad form for them to ask to speak with you alone anyway, but you can by law require a chaperone in the form of anyone.”

“Unfortunately, Carlos, that rule doesn’t really help you or Jay,” Raina said shooting the boy a look. “The chaperone exception is only ever applied to girls here.”

“That’s stupid,” Carlos said. “Mal and Evie can more than take care of themselves.”

Raina shrugged. “I know, it’s dumb,” Raina agreed. “The teachers are so worried about their pretty little princesses though, it would be just as dumb to ignore the rule if it could help you.”

“Pretty little princesses,” Aziz said emerging from this prayer room. “Are you guys talking about me behind my back?”

Raina snorted in laughter and the others joined her.

“Always, Aziz,” Lonnie called from the desk.

“I knew it,” Aziz declared and settled back onto his bed. “You guys just can’t get enough of me.”

Jay looked more relaxed than Raina could ever remember seeing him. He seemed lighter and his smile was softer and less sharp. Raina could see that the change in the boy had brought out a change in the other Isle Kids as well. Mal was more relaxed because Jay was, Carlos was a little less withdrawn and Evie just seemed so happy that her friends were happy.

Raina smiled. It wasn’t happily ever after. The fall out of the coronation had yet to come to head. Villains had escaped from the Isle of the Lost. Lonnie was haunted by a dragon spirit that seemed intent on giving her magical trouble and Raina’s own magical transformation was out in the open, but here in this room with the others laughing and arguing over homework Raina couldn’t help but think that everything was going to be okay.

--

Everything was not okay.

The VKs had been called into Fairy Godmother’s office. Carlos had seen the concerned looks that Aziz, Lonnie, and Raina had given them when Jane had told them that Fairy Godmother had asked to see them. It only got worse when the group of four entered the office and found themselves in front of King Adam. Ben was nowhere in sight.

There were only two free chairs in the office but no one sat in them. Fairy Godmother sat behind her desk and King Adam stood off the side looking incredibly uncomfortable. Carlos almost sympathized because he too felt entirely out of place.

“Thank you, children, for joining us,” Fairy Godmother said with a smile. Carlos wanted to point out that they didn’t have much of a choice. “King Adam wished to speak with you about … what happened.”

“Should Ben be here?” Mal asked a split second after Fairy Godmother had stopped speaking. “Since he’s the king now?”

Fairy Godmother gave them a plastic smile but Carlos could tell that the fairy seemed to agree with Mal, but King Adam, on the other hand, did not.

“King Ben,” Adam said, stressing the word king. “Is still learning how to rule and he doesn’t need to be bothered with this.”

Carlos seriously doubted that, but they had no way to do anything about it. He and the other VKs didn’t have a lot of pull at Auradon Prep. Mal had the most but her relationship with Ben had been awkward since that day Ben offered her the award. The hero kids tried to help but Carlos could see that their friends didn’t have a lot of pull either. Lonnie and Raina weren’t ‘royal enough’ and King Beast seemed to have some kind of problem with Aziz’s parents and that left them pretty powerless compared to the other students.

“So what’s up?” Jay asked he had stuffed his hands in his pockets, a sign Carlos knew meant he was nervous.

“I know King Ben,” Adam again stressed the world king. “Offered you special recognition for your efforts against Maleficent.”

Mal nodded, Carlos would bet that Evie had carefully positioned herself to warn Mal from speaking.

“More than that, your obvious magical talents have made it clear that you will need instruction in that area,” Carlos thought King Adam looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in Fairy Godmother’s officer talking to them. “So starting next week Mal, you and Jay will start Fairy Godmother’s introduction to magic classes.”

“Jay?” Everyone said at once.

“Why Jay?” Evie asked speaking for everyone.

“Genie magic is a little different than fae magic but the introductory course is likely to be happy all the same,” Fairy Godmother explained looking at the kids curiously. “Evie we were not sure if you needed the class as well. Do you have active magic?”

“Wait, wait,” Jay said back up. “Genie? You think I’m a djinn?”

“Think? We know,” King Adam almost growled. “Before he was taken to the Isle Jafar was sealed away in a magic lamp after his wish during a final battle with the Sultan and Sultana. Even under the barrier, Jafar is still a genie, just unable to access his magic.”

“You’ll all three need to agree to a binding spell during the introduction course,” King Adam said. “When you pass the introduction course Fairy Godmother will unbind your magic. We don’t need untrained magic user running around causing problems.”

Mal bristled and Carlos took a step back.

“It won’t hurt,” Fairy Godmother said stepping in before King Adam could make it worse. “It a little binding, like most magical parents put on their younger children. The barrier is sure to have stunted your cores a smidge and we don’t want you to get hurt while you get used to the magic. It should have been done when you first arrived, but King Adam wasn’t sure if you had inherited your parent’s magic at that point.”

That was a lie, Carlos thought to himself. King Beast hadn’t wanted them anywhere near magic. The problem now was that half the kingdom had seen Mal use magic and if the school couldn’t say that they were being trained it would look bad.

“No, no,” Mal said. “We’ll take the stupid class but no the binding. We won’t use magic outside of the class, promise.”

Fairy Godmother gave Mal a strained smile. “Unfortunately, dear, we have to insist.”

--

Lonnie stood outside Fairy Godmother’s office waiting. She hadn’t moved since the Isle Kids have been called in, even though she was technically missing class. Aziz was beside her, of the three of them Aziz had the most political pull and Lonnie was ready to pull any strings she had if the Isle Kids were somehow in trouble. Raina had gone to find King Ben because before the door had shut, Lonnie had seen Fairy Godmother and King Adam but no King Ben.

Lonnie had immediately worried that the former High King was going to get them in trouble. That had been nearly an hour ago. “Lonnie! Arms!” Aziz hissed.

Lonnie swore and the arm warmers that Evie had made for her out of her bag. They had all decided that it would be safer if Lonnie had a way to cover her arms since that was the only thing that seemed to grow scales when she got mad. The claws were harder to hide but Lonnie curled her fingers inward so it wasn’t immediately obvious.

“You need to go back to my room and find Mushu,” Aziz said. During classes, Mushu stayed in Aziz’s room because he didn’t have a roommate.

“Nope,” Lonnie said in a falsely cheerful voice. “Not until we know what’s going on. I don’t trust the Beast King with our friends.”

Aziz glared at Lonnie but sighed and admitted. “I don’t either.”

It felt like hours before Raina and King Ben showed up. Ben looked angry. If Lonnie were to guess Ben didn’t know about this little meeting. The young King took a moment and marched into the office. Lonnie flinched when the door slammed but Fairy Godmother’s office was soundproof so they couldn’t hear anyone inside.

Raina took up her position beside Lonnie and Aziz and waited.

Finally, the door opened again and an enraged King Ben had one arm around Jay’s waist to help keep him steady. Aziz moved laster than Lonnie and took up a position on Jay’s other side. The Isle Kid looked like he was going to be sick, his skin was sickly pale and his limbs were shaking. Lonnie moved to help Mal who was in a similar position and Raina stepped up to help Carlos with Evie. Only Carlos seemed unaffected by whatever had happened in Fairy Godmother’s office.

“What the hell happened?” Aziz demanded as he took all of Jay’s weight so King Ben could pull away to address his father and the Headmistress.

“Their magic has been bound,” King Ben said, anger clear in his voice. “Just until they complete the magic introductory course then Fairy Godmother will undo the binding.”

Fairy Godmother bowed to the High King. Kind Adam stood in the doorway looking unrepentant.

“They’ll be fine,” Ben said to Lonnie and the others. “They’re bodies are adjusting to the lack of magic again. They’ve been excused from class for the rest of the day, you three will be too. They’ll need someone to look after them while their bodies settle. Please take care of them.”

Lonnie locked eyes with the young King and was taken aback by how much anger she saw reflected. Something happened in that office, and whatever it was set Ben off. “Of course, your highness,” Lonnie said softly.

Chapter Text

“There, there,” Mushu said gingerly patting Mal on the back. Aziz sighed tiredly and moved to help Mal back under the covers. Magical binding was hard on the body, the prince had learned. Binding a child’s magic as a child was safer and easier because it was less powerful and the body didn’t have a chance to ‘get used to it’ like a teenager or adult did. Still, the Isle Kids were taking the binding especially hard, Raina explained it was probably from going from living under the barrier where there was no magic to Auradon where their magic had basically had free reign.

Raina was still muttering under her breath how dangerous and stupid it was to bind their magic and Aziz had to agree. The stress from suddenly not having access to their magic anymore was making their body react as if they had an infection, Raina had explained, their magic was attacking Fairy Godmother’s magic in hopes of making it go away.

“Are they going to be sick like this the entire time?” Lonnie asked pulling Jay’s hair back into a low ponytail to keep it off his face.

“No,” Raina said with a shake of her head. “My mom had to bind my little brother’s shapeshifting for a while when he was seven because he couldn’t control the shift. It was only sick for a day or so, their bodies have to get used to the intrusion.”

“They shouldn’t be sick at all,” Carlos said from his curled up spot in the desk chair. “They shouldn’t have done this.”

“No, they shouldn’t have,” Raina growled. “It’s more than bad form to bind someone’s magic at this age without permission. If it wasn't at the Beast King’s behest she would have likely earned herself a stay on the Isle of the Lost.”

Aziz normally disliked that the United States of Auradon didn’t have a system for housing prisoners beyond the Isle of the Lost. When he had first learned about how justice worked in the USA he had been more than a little shocked.

There was no such thing as a prison in the United States of Auradon. King Adam had declared that anyone worth of prison was more than worthy of the Isle of the Lost. Certain kingdoms disagreed and while those specific kingdoms might have a smaller kingdom-wide prison or jail system for lesser offenders but certain crimes earned someone a one-way ticket to the Isle. Magic related crimes, no matter how minor always resulted in being sentenced to the Isle.

It was a great deterrent for little Auradonian children, follow the rules or you’ll get sent to the Isle of the Lost. Having seen how the Isle Kids acted Aziz couldn’t say that he wouldn’t prefer a death sentence to that fate.

“Who do we know that has taken the Intro to Magic class?” Lonnie asked. Aziz could see that she was already thinking. “We’ve got to get them through the class as quickly as possible.”

“Jane?” Raina offered. “I didn’t take it, mom and dad didn’t want me to spread my abilities around.”

The secret Raina’s fox form still hung over the group, unspoken, it was like they kept going from one bad thing to another. Never any time to regroup or recover.

“I’ll get her notes,” Lonnie said firmly. “Maybe see if she can tutor them or something if need be.”

“Mal won’t like it,” Carlos warned. Aziz knew that Mal would have spoken out herself but the purple haired girl had just nodded off in the bed she was tucked into. Evie, in the bed beside her groaned and cuddled closer.

“I’ll handle Mal,” Lonnie promised as she checked Jay’s temperature with her hand. “This won’t come back on you guys. I’ll deal with Jane.”

Aziz gave his friend a hopeful smile that she tiredly returned. “Tomorrow, I’m going to see Ben,” Aziz said. “I don’t know what’s up with his dad but maybe we can get the binding removed early or something.”

After that, the room descends into an uneasy silence. Eventually, Carlos falls asleep in the chair, Dude at his feet. Mal and Evie cuddle together sharing their suffering. Jay tosses and turns but Lonnie is always there to soothe him back to sleep with accented Arabic. When morning finally comes Aziz shakes Raina awake and doesn’t say a word as he slips from Mal and Evie’s room. He had to find Ben.

--
Ben hadn’t slept. His normally pristine room was trashed. Books had been thrown all over, his desk was overturned, at one point he had even torn his bed sheets from the mattress and tossed them across the room. If he hadn’t worried that someone would come check on him Ben would have screamed, would have roared.

He was high king! He sat on the United States of Auradon’s throne and that meant his word was law, expect evidently in the case of his father. After Mal had reacted so poorly to the idea of receiving an award for her service to the kingdom, Ben had decided to leave the villain kids alone. As much as he loved Mal, right now his involvement was making their lives more difficult. So he had pulled back, he had watched as Lonnie, Raina, and Aziz rally around the villain kids time and time again.

Ben and Mal still talked, they were still together. It was different now, the love potion had changed things between them but they were working on things together. And then his father and Fairy Godmother had ruined things. Ben was sure that Mal would want nothing to do with him anymore. He was sure that none of the villain kids would trust him ever again after the betrayal and there was nothing he could do about it.

Fairy Godmother had agreed with King Adam that binding the villain kids’ magic was the right thing to do though her motivations were much different than Ben’s father’s. Fairy Godmother had explained that she was legitimately worried that the villain kids would hurt themselves with untrained magic. While Mal had remarkable control for being untrained, fae magic was dangerous if misused and the fairy council had decided to bind Mal’s magic either way. Fairy Godmother had gotten them to agree to a temporary binding with the course. While she hadn’t necessarily need to bind Jay and Evie as well, the headmistress thought it better in the long run.

She had said to his face, High King or no the fairy council had spoken and Fairy Godmother was loyal to them first, she always had been. At the moment Ben realized how absolute his power was not.

Growing up he had always assumed that his father’s powers were absolute and that was a good thing. Adam was king and that meant everyone had to do what he said. Belle had used that as a reason why Ben had to be kind, and smart, and good. With so much power Ben had to ultimately be good.

But now, with the realization of just how little, how less is power really is, does it even matter? Does it matter that Ben had seen a terrible side to his father since the villain kids came to Auradon? Ben had seen the beast his father had been cursed to be all those years ago in human skin and Ben was sick.

When Aziz slips into his room without knocking or even announcing himself Ben isn’t surprised.

“What the hell was that?” Aziz demanded. His dark eyes are lit with an internal fire and Ben can’t tell if they are two royals speaking or friends.

“Politics,” Ben says almost carelessly. What does it matter if Aziz knows how much power Ben doesn’t have? “Did you know that even though I took the crown at 16 I won’t get the power until I’m 21? Did you know that the only reason my father even stepped down is because the other kingdoms threatened to revolt if he didn’t?”

Ben’s voice remained calm but there was a new, unfamiliar edge to it that Ben could see put Aziz on edge. “I’m a figurehead until I’m 21, and even then I don’t know that I’ll ever be anything more,” Ben said bitterly. He could remember the way his father had talked to him. How King Adam had grown tired of letting Ben play at being a king, and told the boy king so.

“So you want to know what that was, Aziz?” Ben threw the question back at the other boy. “That was the Beastly King doing whatever the fuck he wanted.”

Aziz had crossed his arms over his chest sometime during Ben’s rant and he looked entirely unamused. “Did you really think it would be easy?” Aziz demanded. Ben grit his teeth, the other boy’s tone grated on him a way that it wouldn’t have even a day ago. “Have you ever even read the United States of Auradon constitution or declaration? All of this shit is in there clear as day, if you didn’t expect this then you are stupid or you’re painfully naive.”

Ben bared his teeth at the other boy and shook his head. “Dad always talked like he was stepping away completely,” Ben said raking a hand through his hair. “When he didn’t fight my proclamation I thought it was going to be different.”

“Whatever, man,” Aziz said. “The binding it. It comes off after they pass the stupid class or it won’t be me you’re dealing with anymore. Lonnie, Raina and me, we just spent the whole night making sure the Isle Kids didn’t drown in their own vomit as they tried to fight off Fairy Godmother’s magic. It wasn’t right Ben.”

Ben watched Aziz slip from the room as easily as he entered and the boy king let himself settle on the floor and put his head in his hands.

--

Mal woke up feeling like absolute shit. She was warm and judging from the person cuddling her she was in bed with Evie. It made her think that after the fuck-fest that was the meeting with Fairy Godmother and King Beast things hadn’t gone well. She couldn’t really remember what happened after they left the office, she knew that Ben showed up at some point but the rest was really hazy.

With that in mind, Mal sat up carefully. Evie was next to her and across the room in her bed was Jay. Mal could see Raina lightly dozing on the floor next to the door. Carlos was curled up in an uncomfortable looking position in a chair, eyes wide open watching everything. Over by Jay Mal could see Lonnie on the floor leaning against the mattress passed out. She couldn’t see Aziz but considering the other two were there he likely wasn’t far.

Carefully Mal slipped from the bed and made her way to Carlos. The boy was holding Dude in his arms as the little dog snored away. “What happened?” She asked softly.

Carlos explained how sick they had gotten and how the Auradon kids hadn’t left them alone. They helped carry them back to Mal and Evie’s room, tucked them in and took care of them all night. He explained that Raina had been awake when Carlos woke up and only then did she go to sleep. They were keeping watch, Carlos said, his voice soft and thoughtful. Carlos told her he didn’t know where Aziz went but that Mushu, Lonnie’s little guardian who had also helped had turned on Mal and Evie’s room coffee pot and went to grab some sleep in Aziz’s room.

“How are you feeling?” Carlos asked at the end looking at Mal like he might see something physically wrong with her.

Mal swallowed hard and shook her head. “It feels normal now,” She admitted feeling like a traitor to her magic. “It’s just like being back on the Isle.”

“At least it doesn’t hurt,” Carlos said reluctantly.

“Yeah,” Mal agreed. It felt like a betrayal to the magic she had unknowingly gotten used to living just under her skin. The power that she had since coming to Auradon was no longer at her fingertips and some phantom part of her ached.

“Remind me that this place is better than the Isle,” Mal said hoarsely. “Tell me it’s better than where we came from.”

She needed to hear it. She needed to know that her people were better off here because sometimes it didn’t seem worth it.

“This place is better,” Carlos said firmly. “No one hits us and there is food.”

Mal closed her eyes and wished that they had a better bar for ‘better’ than just that. “Right,” she reluctantly agreed. “Better.”

Mal jerked her head to the door when she heard it crack open an Aziz slipped into the room. The prince looked just as tired as the rest of them, he had been up all night with the others.

“Where did you go?” Mal asked curiously. She wondered if Aziz would tell her or if he would brush it off.

“Had to go have a chat with Ben,” Aziz admitted easily. “Also, I ran into Fairy Godmother on the way back. We are all expected back in classes today, so we need to get the others up.”

Mal grimace and Aziz nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I told her you guys were sick all night, but she said we couldn’t skip again,” Aziz said scornfully. “Like it wasn’t her fault you were all sick.”

At that moment Mal saw in Aziz the same thing she had seen in Carlos, Evie, and Jay all those years ago when she had entered into their agreement of mutual protection, the closest thing to friendship the Isle had. Lonnie had long since proved her worth giving them information and then fighting with Mal and protecting her after. Aziz for all that he was hero kid was angry. It was a deep, hot anger that she could see in his eyes. In another lifetime Aziz could have been the kid living on the Isle if Aladdin hadn’t married a princess. Aziz could have been hers, Mal thought.

“You get Lonnie and Jay,” Mal said tilting her head to where the two were still passed out. “I’ll get Evie. Watch out, though, Jay comes up swinging.”

“Ouch, got it,” Aziz said thankfully.

Across the room, Raina who had only been lightly dozing had pulled herself from the ground and made a beeline for Mal and Evie’s coffee pot. It probably wasn’t allowed to be kept in their room but Mal wasn’t going to the cafeteria every time she needed coffee, that would be stupid.

As Mal wandered back to the bed where Evie lay Mal kept an ear open for Aziz just in case Jay freaked out. It didn’t happen often but Jay had one of the strongest reactions to being woken up and Mal didn’t want Aziz or Lonnie getting hurt. “Princess,” Mal called. “Time to get up, E.”

Evie woke gently about the same time as Jay. The other did wake up swinging up Aziz and Lonnie managed to be far enough away that it wasn’t a problem. Raina, Mal’s new favorite hero kid distributed coffee.

“I’m nervous,” Lonnie said breaking the strange silence that overcame the group as they drank their coffee and shared exhausted looked. “What if I shift?”

“Just wear your arm-warmers,” Evie suggested. “Or at least quarter sleeves and bracers.”

Lonnie nodded but Mal could see she was still concerned. “There’s at least one of us in all your class,” Raina said gesturing to the group. “If we notice you’re starting to shift we can tell you and you duck out.”

“Oh! Speaking of ducking out,” Aziz said Mal watched as the boy pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “Anyone have a pen?”

Carlos tossed Aziz one and the other boy smiled in thanks. Aziz scribbled something on the paper and then handed it to Jay. “Here you go!” He said with a flourish. “Your get out of class note. For prayer times if anyone stops you just show them this. It’s on Ben’s personal stationery and has his seal and signature.”

Jay peered down at the paper in his hand and showed it Mal. “You can forge signatures?” He asked curiously.

Aziz flushed and Lonnie and Raina laughed. “Az’ has been forging signatures since he learned how to write,” Lonnie said still laughing. “He’s really good. No one will notice it was King Ben who signed it.”

“Huh,” Jay said. He folded the paper and tucked it away. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay, folks,” Raina said throwing back the last of her coffee. “Time to go if we want to be mildly presentable. I will see you fine people in class or at lunch.”

Lonnie yawned and waved goodbye following Raina from the room. Aziz left soon after leaving just the four villain kids in Mal and Evie’s room. Mal shared a look with her friends and shooed the boys out. It was time to face the world again, for real this time.

--

Aziz wondered if the Isle kids felt more vulnerable with their magic bound, he thought they did. The reason for this thought? Even though they had obviously chosen to be good, the Isle kids were probably more prickly now than they ever were before. Jay didn’t flirt with the Auradon girls anymore, Evie was tighter lipped, Carlos just didn’t speak at all, and Mal looked ready to fight anyone.

Aziz, Lonnie, and Raina had interference when they could but Lonnie had to back off at one point because when Chad Charming waltzed up to Evie and tried to start something Carlos had caught the scales creeping up the back of Lonnie’s neck. This was the first time the scales had moved from her arms and sent the girl back to Mushu and Aziz’s private room.

Aziz had been there when Ben and Fairy Godmother had approached them and told them they no longer had to take the remedial goodness class and instead the introduction to magic was going to happen during that time in their schedule. They gave Carlos a free period since he was practically magic null.

Magic null was someone who was absolutely baseline, 100% human. Lonnie had thought she was magic null before the dragon spirit and Aziz was also magic null. A good majority of the USA had at least some small percentage of magic or creature ancestry, so being magic null was not exactly common.

Aziz, who also had a free period during that time, promised to keep Carlos company. The two boys decided to take up residence in one the study rooms in the library. Carlos had shoved his school books to the side and was reading a book he had found on electrical engineering. Aziz was making paper airplanes and attempting to make them land in the trash.

“Is this how you always spend your free period?” Carlos asked. Aziz jerked in surprise, the other teen hadn’t looked up from his book since he sat down.

“What? Oh,” Aziz said calming himself down from the shock. “Yeah, I guess. Sometimes I’ll go do Tourney drills or something.”

“Lonnie said something about a rule book,” Carlos said thoughtfully. “Do you think they have a copy in the library? Maybe we can work on that while the others do magic.”

Aziz sat up and nodded. “Oh, that’s a great idea! Hang on, I’ll go grab the books we need,” Aziz said. “I, uh, don’t know where it is but the girl working the information desk has a crush on me so she’ll help.”

Carlos agreed and Aziz slipped from the study room and marched with purpose toward the information desk.

“Fairy Godmother bound their magic-”

Aziz stopped when he heard Audrey’s voice. Aziz had grown up with Audrey and Chad the same as he had with Lonnie. Being in the next generation of royalty Aladdin and Jasmine had encouraged him to get to know his peers because they would rule their kingdoms someday, just like he would. Audrey wasn’t a terrible person when Lonnie’s grandfather had died last year Audrey had stayed up all night with her roommate talking about unimportant things just being there for her.

“Where did you hear that?” That was Chad’s voice, Aziz thought. Carefully the boy moved closer the two royals were tucked into their own study room but they hadn’t closed the door all the way. Aziz wouldn’t normally eavesdrop but since the two were talking about Isle Kids Aziz thought it might be important because whatever they were talking about it was important enough for Chad and Audrey to skip class to do it. Aziz knew they both had class right now and it wasn’t due to let out for another forty-five minutes.

“It doesn’t matter,” Audrey said Aziz could picture her waving Chad off. “What matters is they are just as powerless as the rest of us now. All we have to do now is make their lives so bad that they beg to be sent back to the Isle. Because we know that Ben won’t send them back unless they want to go back.”

Aziz could hear the disgust in her voice and had to shake his head. There was nothing these two could do to the Isle Kids that would ever make them beg to go back to the Isle.

“But what if they don’t?” Chad asked. “Can’t we just get them sent back? Everyone knows that they like to hurt people and steal things. They’re villains! It should be easy to get them sent back!”

Aziz frowned that sounded a lot like Chad wanted to frame the Isle Kids for something, something bad enough to get them sent to the Isle of the Lost as punishment. This plan was much more likely to work, Aziz admitted to himself. The Isle Kids would never beg but they would fight if provoked and more than that they were the perfect target if something happened. Everyone in school would be more than willing to blame them for anything bad that happened.

Aziz wanted to scream, as dumb as Chad was even a broken clock was right twice a day and it appeared this was one of Chad’s times. The prince moved away from the door, he needed that rulebook and he needed it now.

Aziz managed to get the book with little problem and retreated back to the study room he and Carlos had claimed. Aziz pushed the door open and slammed the book down on the table. Carlos who had been improving Aziz’s paper airplanes since the other boy left looked at Aziz’s grim face and paled. “What’s wrong?” Carlos asked.

“We have a problem,” Aziz admitted. “We have to tell Mal and the others.”

Chapter Text

Mal wanted to scream. Why did this keep happening? They had chosen good! Mal and Evie were in the boys’ room, just the four of them, something that had become rather rare since they finally accepted the friendship that had developed between the four of them and the three Auradon kids.

Mal, Jay, and Evie had only had their first introduction to magic class that day, moving them a tiny step closer to having their magic unlocked. When their magic was unbound they would be that much safer from their parents who had escaped the Isle of the Lost and were no doubt looking for revenge for their children’s betrayal. And now this, two spoiled Auradon brats wanted to get them in trouble, enough trouble to get them sent back to the Isle of the Lost.

Carlos and Evie were pouring over the Auradon Prep handbook and the general code of laws for the United States of Auradon that Aziz had gotten later when Carlos asked about possibly being framed for a kingdom-wide law. Jay was pacing the length of the room in what Mal knew to be a nervous gesture. Out of the three of them with magic Jay was taking his bound magic the hardest, Fairy Godmother had warned them that he might be more irritable and antsy because of his djinn heritage.

“Listen to this!” Carlos said incredulously. “No sentient being (the commentary said they had a huge debate on whether the laws applied to sentient furniture at one point) shall knowingly, willfully, recklessly, intentionally, or purposefully attempt, aid, or otherwise assist anyone being in leaving or entering the Isle of the Lost without the express and explicit permission of the Highest Sovereign Ruler of the United States of Auradon. The sentence for this is life imprisonment on the Isle.”

“Does that mean Jane is going to get sent to the Isle?” Evie pondered looking up from the handbook that she had been reading. “It was her taking the wand that caused the hole in the barrier…”

Carlos shrugged but Mal shook her head. “No, she’s Fairy Godmother’s kid, there is no way she’d let them send Jane to the Isle,” Mal explained.

“There is a follow-up rule to this,” Carlos announced. “No sentient being, blah, blah, blah, shall assist a villain fleeing justice and rightful imprisonment. Does that mean that anyone who helps out parents stay on the run could be sentenced on the Isle?”

“Sound like it,” Jay said grimly. “That’s probably what they will try and get us with. It doesn’t matter that we chose good. To them, it would make sense that we would help our parents.”

Mal scowled that sounded like something the prissy royals would try. Mal flopped down on Jay’s bed and huffed in irritation. “This sucks, why can’t we catch a break?” Mal asked the air.

“Lonnie’s getting worse too,” Jay admitted. The long-haired teen stopped his pacing for the moment. “The scales are starting to reach her face when she’s angry, it’s almost impossible to hide. Mushu doesn’t know what to do, either.”

“Maybe they need to stay away for a while,” Mal said reluctantly. “Lonnie is only getting so bad because of our situation. A little distance might let her calm down.”

“Raina said any strong emotion is likely to cause the scales to appear if the dragon spirit is like regular shapeshifting,” Jay said shaking his head. “I’ve already tried to get them to take a step back. Aziz said they’ve cleaned up our puke, and if that didn’t scare them off then nothing would.”

Mal shook her head, she wasn’t surprised the Auradon kids thought of it that way.

“How was the magic class?” Carlos asked changing the subject. They hadn’t talked about the magic class yet. Mal and the others had come back irritated after the first class and the news of Chad and Audrey’s plot was more than enough to distract them.

“It’s stupid,” Mal complained.

“Right now, we are covering magical history,” Evie elaborated. “And different types of magic, like inherent magic that someone is born with, magic bestowed by an object or being, stuff like that. It’s a bit dull.”

Carlos nodded in understanding. “How long will the course take?” He asked.

“It’s a work at your own pace,” Evie continued to explain. “So if we work quickly we can get our magic unbound in a month or so.”

“Oh,” Carlos said surprised. “I was expecting it to take much longer than that.”

Mal huffed but nodded. She had honestly expected it to take longer as well. Sometimes she got the feeling that Fairy Godmother wasn’t as terrible as she seemed. Sure, she was stuck up and an enforcer of the school’s stupid rules but sometimes Mal got the idea that she was looking out for them in a strange way. “Fairy Godmother said the course usually takes about three months to complete but since we are so motivated it wouldn’t be impossible to finish in a month, month and a half,” Mal said moodily. “She also said that while our magic is bound we can’t leave campus.”

“What? When did she say that?” Jay demanded. Auradon students only got a few opportunities to leave the sprawling campus. Every other weekend students were able to leave and the school often had field trips to historical sites and the sports team would often go to the kingdoms where the smaller schools were and play on their fields. Each outing was strictly monitored and there was incredibly tight security. “Does that mean I can’t play at away game?”

“I dunno,” Mal shrugged. “You should ask Coach or Zhou. Fairy Godmother said until the escaped villains are caught or our magic is unbound we can’t leave. That it’s too dangerous.”

“This sucks!” Jay shouted kicking at his bed frame. “I’m going to go try and find someone to spar with.”

Mal watched Jay storm from the room and wanted to scream again. Everything was imploding around her and Mal still needed to talk to Ben.

--

Jay marched straight to Aziz’s room and pounded on the other teen’s door until Aziz answered. “Hey what’s up?” Aziz asked worriedly. He had gone to his room after dinner instead of hanging out with the others. The recent stress getting to him to the point where he needed some time alone. “Is everything okay?”

“Can we spar? Swords or fists or whatever,” Jay practically begged. “I need to do something!”

Aziz looked Jay over with a critical eye and obviously saw something. “Yeah, man,” Aziz said soothingly. “Let me grab my shoes and we can go spar.”

Jay waited impatiently as Aziz grabbed his shoes and a bag. The two boys walked with purpose to the gym. Jay didn’t bother with protective gear, he trusted his own skills and Aziz’s own to stay safe even with his emotions where they were. Aziz raised an eyebrow at Jay’s choice but shrugged it off and forwent the gear as well.

The spar was brutal. Jay struck like a snake and Aziz found himself having to fight back just as hard. Only moments in and Aziz was breathing hard and he could see Jay in a similar condition. The spar was short and brutal. Neither boy was willing to concede and they made sure to strike at any weaknesses they saw. Jay won when he swept Aziz’s legs out from under him and held the sword to his throat.

“I yield,” Aziz said through ragged breaths.

Jay held the sword at Aziz’s throat for a moment longer before reaching down and offered his hand. “On the Isle, I wouldn’t have stopped,” Jay said almost without meaning too.

“What do you mean?” Aziz asked pulling two bottles of water from his bag. He offered one to Jay and the boys sat on the raised parts of the fighting arena.

Jay took the water gratefully. “On the Isle, I wouldn’t have stopped until you were knocked out,” Jay said simply. “Then I would have stolen anything from you that might be worth something. The sword, your shoes, your bag, stuff like that.”

Aziz nodded. “Well I’m glad we aren’t on the Isle then,” Aziz said cautiously.

“Me too,” Jay muttered. He stared hard at the bottle in his hands.

“My grandfather is on the Isle,” Aziz blurted out.

“What?” Jay asked looking up at his friend. Aziz was twisting the cap on the bottle and didn’t look at Jay.

“My dad’s father was the King of Thieves,” Aziz explained. “Cassim.”

“Woah, no way!” Jay said. His voice was excited. “I’ve met him! He’s great! He taught me how to pickpocket!”

Iago had introduced Jay to Cassim when Jay was very young. Jafar had kicked Jay out for some imagined slight and the parrot had promised the little boy a safe place to go for a few hours. Jay, who knew better than to sit out on the streets, followed the talking bird halfway across the Isle to a tavern named “1001 Nights.”

It was there when little Jay toddled into the room that he met Cassim. The charismatic thief king had easily accepted the son of Agrabah’s most hated villain and let Iago explain that Jay needed a place to be for a while.

From then on until Jay got strong and fast enough to take care of himself he would hideout Cassim who taught him to steal and to survive.

“He’s part of why the Beast King hates me and my family,” Aziz said softly. “When Beast rolled through with his armies demanding that villains be turned over for imprisonment on the Isle my dad fought him. Said that Cassim didn’t deserve to be on the Isle. King Beast said my grandfather could go quietly or my dad would be next.”

Jay’s eyebrows shot up. He couldn’t believe that Beast had threatened the Sultan like that.

“Agrabah doesn’t have an army, it never really has,” Aziz explained. “And King Beast was handing out pardons to the royals who had less than sparkling pasts, King Eugene and my dad for example. So he said my grandfather had to go to the Isle or my dad wouldn’t have his pardon and when Auradon took Agrabah my dad would go to the Isle the same as every other criminal and villain.”

“My grandfather made the decision without letting dad know,” Aziz said clenching his hands so hard the plastic water bottle made a loud crunch noise. “Mom says he went to King Beast in the middle of the night and turned himself in. Agrabah was ready and willing to hold out like Sherwood Forest did. We were ready to fight, but then when he gave himself up for the good of the kingdom mom and dad couldn’t ruin what he sacrificed himself for.”

“Shit,” Jay swore. He couldn’t believe what shit had happened in Auradon.

“Yeah,” Aziz agreed. He set the water bottle aside. “I’m telling you this so you know that you aren’t alone. King Beast has fucked over just about everyone in the kingdom and most of the royalty has just been waiting for Ben to take over, they demanded it in fact. It’s why he was crowned so young.”

Jay nodded, he wondered why King Beast would step aside so soon, it hadn’t made a lot of sense but the VKs hadn’t thought about it much. The two boys sat together cooling off and just letting Aziz’s confession settle between them.

Aziz broke the silence. “What’s he like, my grandfather?” Aziz asked curiously. “Dad didn’t grow up with him and he was sent to the Isle before I was born.”

“Cassim,” Jay said thoughtfully. “He’s probably one of the best people on the Isle.”

Cassim was a thief and as ruthless as anyone else on the Isle of the Lost but unlike a lot of the other men on the Isle he had a very clear code. The King of Thieves didn’t steal from children and his men didn’t hurt them. Jay had watched the older man beat someone as close to death as a person could get on the Isle once. It was one of the last times Jay had visited Cassim as a snot-nosed brat without a crew behind him. The guy some pirate had caught say sneaking aboard his ship and tracked the little thief halfway across the Isle and was kicking the shit out of him. Evidently one of Cassim’s mean alerted the King and that was the first time Jay had seen the man, his mentor, as a villain.

“He’s tough though,” Jay told Aziz. “You have to be on the Isle, but Cassim has a code and that’s always made him stand out.”

Aziz smiled a little and nodded his head. Jay wished he knew what the other boy was thinking. This was not what he expected when he banged on Aziz’s door only maybe an hour before. He had expected a good spar, only Lonnie was better, and maybe some talk about Tourney or something else that didn’t matter. Jay hadn’t expected to find out that Aziz was literally one step away from essentially being a villain kid with a father stuck on the Isle.

“You know,” Jay said thoughtfully. “Since your grandfather is on the Isle … it kind of makes you a VK in a way.”

Aziz snorted with laughter. “You think?” He asked with a grin. “I’m sure that I wouldn’t last an hour on the Isle.”

“Oh you would absolutely last an hour,” Jay assured him. “Two hours though…” He trailed off playfully and Aziz shoved him laughing.

The two boys packed up their gear and left the gym still laughing and shoving each other playfully.

They never saw the sleepy looking dwarf kid who was tucked away between the bleachers who had woken up sometime during their conversation.

--

Lonnie was once again mostly asleep in her breakfast. A banana nut muffin sat next to her head and Lonnie sleepily tried to bite at it from her place on the table but to no avail. Lonnie groaned and closed her eyes, giving up on the muffin and just let the noise of the slowly filling cafeteria soothe her to sleep.

“Is she dead?” Lonnie heard a voice say, it sounded familiar but Lonnie couldn’t be bothered to open her eyes and check.

“No,” another voice laughed. “Just still sleep. Lonnie!”

The voice teased out her name in a sing-song manner but Lonnie refused to budge. If she opened her eyes that meant it was almost time for school and Lonnie did not want to go to school.

Lonnie heard the sound of chairs being pulled back and four trays hitting the table. The person in the chair closest to gave Lonnie a sharp poke. The Chinese girl grumbled and swatted at the offending digit.

“Jay stole your muffin,” the first voice said calmly.

Lonnie shot upright and glared at the boy cheerfully eating her muffin. “You jerk!” Lonnie said hatefully. “That’s my muffin!”

“Not anymore,” Jay said sweetly as he took a big bite of the muffin.

Lonnie scowled fiercely but the Isle Kids just laughed at her attempt to look threatening.

“Here,” Evie said sweetly. Lonnie took the offered apple that Evie handed her. Lonnie snuck a look at Evie’s plate and was glad to see that Evie still had a good breakfast left.

“Thanks,” Lonnie said gratefully. She took the apple and glared again at Jay who just smiled and took another bite of her muffin. “I’ll get you back,” Lonnie promised.

“I look forward to it,” Jay said with a smirk.

“May I sit here?”

Lonnie turned around and peered sleepily at Doug who was clutching a food tray and shifting awkwardly. Lonnie could see the guy wanted to join them but he was waiting politely. Lonnie looked at Mal who nodded. Lonnie smiled and waved him over. Doug grabbed a chair next to Evie, unsurprising, and greeted her softly.

Lonnie wasn’t sure how she felt about the other teen. Doug was an okay guy and one of the few non-royals at Auradon which would normally put him and Lonnie on the same side, except for some reason he had caught Ben’s eye and thus found himself drawn into the royal drama more often than not.

Lonnie had been surprised when after family day Doug had sided with Chad and Audrey rather than Evie who he seemed to like a lot.

“How are you, Doug?” Lonnie asked breaking the ice.

“Oh, I’m good,” Doug said. “I haven’t had the chance to really see you guys since the coronation so I thought maybe getting breakfast with you might help.”

“I’ve missed you,” Evie admitted. “I thought you didn’t like us anymore.”

Lonnie could see a bed blush crawl up Doug’s neck, even his ears flushed pink. “Yeah,” Doug said awkwardly. “That wasn’t my best moment. I owe you guys an apology.”

“No problem,” Carlos muttered.

“Yeah man, we’re cool,” Jay agreed.

Mal, however, was firmer and appeared to be waiting for Evie’s response. Lonnie bit into her apple and watched curiously.

“Maybe we can talk later?” Evie asked softly. Lonnie noticed that she didn’t forgive the dwarf and so neither did Mal, and from the desperate look on Doug’s face, he noticed it too.

“Sure,” Doug said. “At the picnic table where we studied, later?”

“Alright,” Evie agreed. The table fell into a heavy silence. Lonnie wished that Aziz or Raina would show up or something but she knew her friends were still sleeping. They never got up in time for breakfast.

Across the table, Mal was flipping through her phone and Evie and Doug were whispering softly now. Jay was shoving Carlos, eyeing the muffin that he had brought to the table and Carlos looked ready to stab Jay if the older boy to a swipe at it. Lonnie watched the battle for the muffin escalate and waited until just the right time and reached over and grabbed it from Carlos’s tray. Jay and Carlos didn’t notice.

Mal did. The purple haired girl smirked at Lonnie’s thievery and went back to her phone and gasped suddenly.

“Guys,” Mal said getting the table’s attention with only one word. Evie and Doug stopped talking, Jay and Carlos froze in place and even Lonnie sat at attention when Mal called their attention. “The villains have been spotted.”

“What?”

“Where?”

“Was anyone hurt?”

The table descended into madness. Lonnie shot a look around and they had drawn a little attention but luckily no one else appeared to have seen the new yet. Lonnie chomped on the last bit of her muffin and turned her attention back to Mal.

“Jafar, Cruella de Vil, and the Evil Queen were spotted terrorizing a small town outside of Charmington,” Mal read from her phone. Her voice was soft and hoarse. “There were no casualties but several injuries from magic related attacks. There has been no declaration of intent from the villains stating what they are after, but they are considered armed and dangerous and everyone is urged to not engage if confronted.”

“Why Charmington?” Jay asked. “Our parents don’t have problems with the Charmings do they?”

“It’s probably a test run,” Lonnie interjected. “They are testing their powers, it’s the first ‘big’ thing they’ve done since escaping the barrier.”

Mal nodded in agreement. “At least no one was killed,” she said. “We don’t need that drama right now.”

“Speaking of drama,” Lonnie said. “We should get out of here before everyone else reads the news, I’m surprised Chad isn’t out here screaming about it yet.”

Mal grimaced and the others nodded. “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Mal agreed. “Do you think Aziz and Raina are awake by now? We should let them know what happened.”

“This is important,” Lonnie said standing from her table. “We can wake them if we need too.”

“Right,” Mal said. “Let’s regroup at mine and Evie’s, Doug, you in?”

The dwarf jerked in surprise at being included but nodded frantically.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Raina had decided to wake up early for once and get in some archery practice before school started. So the copper-haired girl had grabbed her gear and went out to the range. The early morning dew left her shoes damp and the early morning chill meant that Raina could almost see her breath in the air.

Archery practice had been just what she needed. The familiar burn of her arms and shoulders had cleared her head like nothing else could. The stress from the last few weeks was really pressing down on the girl. Not only did she have her school work to worry about but her friends seemed to constantly be in danger too.

Lonnie’s issue with the dragon spirit was getting worse. Raina could see the scales climbing higher and higher with each shift. Mushu, Lonnie’s ancestral guardian didn’t know how to help, in his memory, nothing like this has ever happened before. Even Raina’s own experience with shapeshifting wasn’t very helpful, the only thing the two seemed to share was an emotional trigger.

Nothing ever seemed to go right for the Isle kids. Between the binding of their magic (which Raina thought was a crime in and of itself), the escaped villains, and school it was just one thing after another. That kind of stress made Raina alert. It made her watch. That was why when she saw some kid at Aziz’s locker she stopped to watch.

Raina was far enough away that the mystery kid, Raina couldn’t tell who he was from where she was, that he couldn’t see her but she noticed that he had stuffed some kind of note into the locker and dashed off.

If it had been someone Raina recognized from the Tourney team or even as a friend of Aziz’s she might not have given the strange incident a second thought, but with everything that was going on Raina thought it was more than a little suspicious.

Getting into the locker was easy, and the note sat on a pile of books that the boy probably should have taken back to his dorm last night. The copper-hair girl snatched up the piece of paper and unfolded it.

Raina growled, literally growled. The sound was low and animal-like. She read over the note again and carefully folded it back up and brought the paper to her nose and inhaled deeply. Her eyes flashed a fox gold. “Dwarf,” Raina snarled. The shapeshifter stuffed the note deep in her pocket. She had hunting to do.

--

“Has anyone seen Raina?” Lonnie asked the group at lunch. “She wasn’t in her room this morning when we all went to Aziz’s room and I haven’t seen her at all.”

Evie shook her head. “No, she wasn’t in chemistry with us today,” she said gesturing to Doug. Evie’s relationship with Doug was fragile at the moment. After sitting with them at breakfast that morning Doug had spent all day groveling and doing his best to earn Evie’s forgiveness. It was flattering and confusing.

Evie didn’t really understand why Doug was trying so hard. They had been getting closer, as close as Mal would let Evie get before the coronation, but Doug’s actions at family day had hurt. Evie wasn’t sure why they hurt her so badly because Doug had acted like any Isle kid would. Betrayal was more common than anything else so Evie couldn’t understand why she was so hurt by Doug’s betrayal.

A small part of Evie, the part that had fallen in love with Auradon the moment they stepped out of the limo, whispered that she had thought people from Auradon would be better than the people on the Isle. That same part of her pointed to Lonnie, Aziz, and Raina and said they didn’t betray them, so why had Doug? Evie ignored that part of her and kept any conversation between herself and Doug light, she acknowledged the apologies but she didn’t accept them. Not yet.

“She wasn’t in class?” Lonnie asked worriedly. “Raina never skips.”

Mal looked up from the thin book Fairy Godmother had assigned them for their introductory magic course and frowned. “When was the last time anyone saw her?”

Carlos and Jay shrugged. Lonnie said she saw her the night before, they had gone to the kitchen for a late night snack but they had said goodnight in the hallway between their rooms.

“I haven’t seen her all day,” Aziz said thoughtfully.

“Who is her roommate?” Evie asked curiously. “We don’t even know if she made it back to her room last night.”

“Ally,” Lonnie said immediately. “Alice’s daughter. Alice is an ambassador to Wonderland and King Beast offered a place at Auradon Prep to all the ambassador’s kids.” She explain when the Isle kids looked confused as to why Alice’s daughter went to Auradon.

“Where do we find Ally?” Mal asked already standing. The book had been tucked away and Evie stood with the others. The odd group had taken up the Auradon three’s normal study space under a tree on the grounds for the afternoon.

“I don’t know,” Lonnie said regretfully. “Ally and I aren’t close and Raina never mentioned her schedule.”

“Oh! I know!” Evie said suddenly. She had seen Ally and some of the other girls studying in one of the lounges in the campus main building. She had seen them studying their every day so it made sense that Ally would be there today. Evie shared her knowledge with the group and they went.

As they walked together Evie noticed something about the group, the dynamic they had. Mal walked at the front, which was beyond normal for the half-fae. Two steps or so behind Jay and Lonnie were talking softly, probably about Raina. Evie walked in the middle between Mal, Jay, and Lonnie and where Carlos was walking with Aziz. Evie knew that if Raina was there the fox-like girl would have walked next to Evie, like Doug was, bouncing between Evie and Carlos and Aziz.

It almost reminded the princess of a royal procession or a battle formation.

--

Carlos had only recognized a few of the girl sitting in the lounge. Lonnie pointed out Ally, one of the blondes, who was next to a dark-haired older girl who Aziz said was named Melody. She was Ariel’s oldest daughter and set to graduate that year. Carlos figured a few of the other girls were Melody’s cousins because they all looked related and around the same age.

Lonnie did the talking because as soon as the strange group of hero and villain kids walked in the lounge got awkwardly quiet. It took almost ten minutes to get a straight answer out of Ally, the girl was as mad as her mother, but they learned that the blonde hadn’t seen her roommate since they went to bed the night before. Raina was out of the room when Ally woke that morning.

“Raina?” One of the girls, brown hair and big green eyes name Ruby, asked. “I was going some early morning cheer practice and I saw her down by the archery range.”

“Thanks, Ruby!” Aziz said cheerfully. The brunette smiled and gave the boy a somewhat shy wave in return.

The group slowly made their way back to the tree as their search for Raina once again hit a dead end.

“Someone’s got a crush on you,” Jay said teasingly. Carlos smirked at Aziz’s sheepish grin.

“Ruby and I were friends when we were kids,” Aziz said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “She takes after her dad and we would have competitions to see who could steal the biggest thing. She stole a huge, ugly lamp from her parent’s formal living room without anyone noticing. It was great.”

“Auradon has a lot of thieves running around,” Mal remarked dryly. It was true, Carlos knew that Ruby had a sister and if she took after her dad too, then Aziz made three in their age group.

“Former thieves are popular husbands around here,” Lonnie said easily. “Jay better be careful or some pretty princess might snatch him up and make a king out of him.”

Jay blushed hard, the color showing despite his skin tone.

Carlos had to cover his mouth to keep from bursting out into laughter. He never saw Jay embarrassed like this. The older teen was always so smooth with girls and even other boys, so to see him blushing over Lonnie’s comment was both hilarious and confusing.

“I don’t think I’m the king type,” Jay said with a laugh, color still staining his cheeks. “I’ll leave the royalty to Aziz, Mal, and Evie.”

--

Raina couldn’t believe it took all day to find the dwarf who wrote the note in Aziz’s locker. It was hard because she hadn’t seen his face and there were five dwarf kids at Auradon prep and Raina had to check each of them individually. She first checked Doug off her mental list, Doug was in her year and she was familiar enough with his scent that she was able to eliminate him pretty easily. Daisy, Doc’s oldest was next. She was the only girl dwarf at Auradon prep but Raina had to make sure that she hadn’t written it and had one of her cousins deliver it.

Blain, Bashful’s son, was a freshman and Raina easily cornered him and eliminated him from the list. After Blain, Raina went after Gregory, Grumpy’s middle son, who had irately said it hadn’t been him. Raina crossed him off her list but made a note to come back to him if she couldn’t match the scent. That just left Steven, Sleepy’s son. The problem with Steven was that Raina couldn’t find him.

Everyone she spoke too said he was probably napping somewhere but that didn’t help the shapeshifter. As the morning melted into afternoon Raina growled in frustration, she had already missed her morning classes and unless she suddenly found Steven the dwarf she was going to miss her afternoon classes too.

Irritated the shapeshifter marched back to where she knew Daisy was studying and demanded to know where Steven liked to nap. The older girl was utterly unimpressed by Raina’s fierce looks and demanded to know why Raina was looking for her younger cousin.

“I’ve got to talk to him about something,” Raina said simply. “He dropped a note in Aziz’s locker and I want to ask him about it.”

“What’s note?” Daisy asked curiously. “You should go to class, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”

“Not happening,” Raina said shortly. “This is serious. He could get in big trouble for the little note he left for Aziz and I need to know if someone put him up to this.”

Daisy was finally beginning to look worried that Steven was getting himself into something that he shouldn’t. “Fine,” She said shouldering her backpack and gesturing for Raina to go. “I’ll help you find him. My dad would be upset with me if I didn’t try to keep him out of trouble.”

“Whatever,” Raina said dismissively. “We need just need to find him.”

--

While the group sat on the grass beneath a tree Evie and Doug too the chance to sneak away to talk. Evie led them to the bench where they had studied and where Evie showed Doug her chemistry test that she studied so hard for.

The dwarf was just as nervous as he had been that morning and the rest of the day. Evie can practically feel the remorse pouring off of him, but she still didn’t feel like it was time to forgive him.

“Evie,” Doug said. “I am so sorry. I should have stood up for you on family day. I shouldn’t have let Chad and Audrey keep me from talking to you afterward. I was stupid.”

Evie remained silent.

“I don’t even know why I did it!” Doug said pushing forward trying to say anything that would get a positive reaction from the Isle princess. “You, uh, you mean a lot to me and I shouldn’t have let them stop me from being a good friend and I’m really, really sorry.”

Doug finally stopped talking and Evie took a moment to gather her thoughts.

“I thought you liked me,” Evie said softly.

“I did - I do! I do like you,” Doug said urgently.

“So when you didn’t even try and stick up for us, it hurt,” Evie said. She ignored Doug’s response and pushed forward. “We don’t exactly have a lot of friends here, and I thought you were one of the few.”

“I am Evie, I swear,” Doug said sounding miserable.

“What was worse, was how you ignored me after,” Evie continued. Evie was willing to admit that Doug might not have even had time to intervene as Raina, Lonnie, and Aziz had swept them away as quickly as possible but Doug had ignored Evie afterward. The weight of their mission had weighed heavily on the blue haired girl and Doug ignoring her had made it that much harder. “I tried to talk to you and you just walked away.”

“Evie,” Doug started but Evie cut him off.

“I really like you, Doug,” Evie said. “But I don’t know if I can trust you. What if something else happens like when my mother attacks some kingdom. Are you going to go back to ignoring me? Are you going to treat me like a villain again?”

“No!”

“You need to prove it.”

--

“Raina has officially missed all of her class and she missed archery practice,” Lonnie said flopping down on Aziz’s floor. The odd group had come together in Aziz’s room after a quick dinner to do homework and just talk. “I’m worried,” Lonnie admitted.

“She, I mean, our parents,” Carlos said haltingly. “I mean she’s safe on campus right?”

Aziz nodded and smile reassuringly at the younger boy. “Yeah, as long as she’s on-campus no villain could get her,” Aziz promised. “The wards here are the strongest in the kingdom. It was one of the concessions King Beast had to make, letting the Fairy Council and the Magical Guilds put the wards into place. Auradon Prep is the safest place in the United States of Auradon.”

“I wouldn’t have expected him to do something like that,” Carlos admitted. “King Beast seems too anti-magic.”

“Like I said it was one of the concessions King Beast had to make when setting up the school,” Aziz said. “I know my parents wouldn’t have sent me if the wards weren’t a thing.”

“It makes sense,” Mal said thoughtfully. “All the heirs to a bunch of different kingdoms all in one school. Easy pickings for any half-rate villain.”

That got a laugh from the group and they descended into separate conversations, as oft happened with large groups of teenagers. Until someone broke the relaxed atmosphere.

“We have another problem.” Aziz recognized the voice before he realized the door to his room had been opened.

“Raina?” Lonnie yelped the girl sat up quickly and Aziz could see the rest do the same.

“Steven?” Doug called out. “Raina, what’s going on?”

Aziz then noticed that Raina was pulling behind her Doug’s cousin Steven.

“This is Steven,” Raina said introducing the dwarf to the Isle kids. “And this morning I saw Steven leaving a little note in Aziz’s locker.”

Aziz jerked in surprise. His locker, Aziz thought to himself, why his locker? Aziz watched Raina take a small folded piece of paper and took it when she handed it to him. The teen carefully unfolded the note and felt a sense of confusion but also a thread of fear when he read the words.

we know what you are & if you don’t want the whole school to know then meet us at midnight behind the bleachers

“What I am?” Aziz said confused. “What does this mean?”

He didn't recognize the handwriting and the claim to 'know' what he was didn't make much sense. Maybe if the note had been found in Lonnie's locker, but for Aziz it didn't make much sense.

Raina growled a little and shook Steven, who she still had by the collar of his shirt. “That’s what I wanted to know,” she said. “So I tracked him down and we had a little talk.”

Aziz looked away to the others and saw a range of emotions.

“Blackmail?” Mal asked taking the note from Aziz. The purple haired girl looked at the note and then to the dwarf. “Who is the ‘we’?” Mal demanded.

Steven who had been blinking sleepily was shaken roughly by Raina. “Answer her,” Raina said harshly. “You’re in big trouble, Steven. Aziz is a prince, you just tried to blackmail a prince, idiot.”

“I didn’t write the note!” Steven complained with a sleepy glare. “I was just delivering it. I didn’t even read it.”

“So who are you delivering it for?” Jay demanded. Aziz noticed for the first time just how intimidating the other boy was. Jay was the biggest Isle kid in both height and just general size. Jay had muscles that Carlos did not and he was physically intimidating in a way that Evie and Mal were not. It was easy to see just what position the other boy had in Mal’s gang, the muscle, the enforcer, and the protector.

“I-I c-can’t say!” Steven said frantically even as Jay loomed large in Steven’s personal space.

“What did you mean, ‘know what I am’?” Aziz demanded.

“I overheard you and Jay talking about how your grandfather is on the Isle of the Lost!” Steven rambled. “I guess someone else did too because when I left the gym that night they handed me the note and said to put it in your locker!”

“Who was it?” Rain growled giving the dwarf another hard shake.

“I can’t tell you!” Steven cried out.

Jay cracked his knuckles and stepped up Raina jerked the dwarf up and took hold of his shoulders as if she were going to hold him in place for Jay. “Hey, hey! Leave me alone,” Steven said as he struggled in Raina’s hold. “Doug! Doug, help!”

Aziz saw Doug jerk and swallow hard but he gratefully took Evie’s hand and stayed in place. Aziz felt bad for the dwarf but he knew (or maybe hoped) that Raina and Jay wouldn’t hurt Steven.

“I can’t tell you!” Steven said again. “I can’t!”

“Guys!” Lonnie said sharply. Aziz’s friend had been sitting back with Carlos and Evie as Raina, Jay, and Mal handled the questioning. He hadn’t seen her move forward so he had jumped when she spoke. “What if he, literally, can’t tell us?”

“You mean a spell?” Carlos asked cautiously. “Something that is keeping him from saying?”

“Yeah,” Lonnie said. The Chinese girl marched up to where Raina had had Steven in hand. Aziz wondered just what his friend was up too. “Did you see who gave you the note?”

“Yes,” Steven said as he nodded quickly.

“Did they do something to keep you from telling us who it was?” Lonnie continued.

Steven nodded again, he looked happy that someone had, understood why he couldn’t say who had given him the note.

Aziz rubbed his face and groaned. “Fuck!” He swore. “Okay, this has officially gotten so far out of hand that I have to take it to my parents. If it’s really about my grandfather, it won’t matter. We’ve never hidden it, it’s just easier not to talk about. But it’s blackmail, and that puts my kingdom at risk.”

“You’ve got to tell King Ben, too,” Lonnie said almost reluctantly. “He’s High King, he’ll need to know that someone is going around trying to blackmail royalty.”

“Let Steven go, Raina,” Aziz said tiredly. The young prince sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. Aziz heard, rather than saw, Raina let the dwarf go and felt the bed dip beside him.

“You okay, dude?” Aziz heard Jay asked from somewhere in front of him.

“No,” Aziz said, he knew his voice sounded exhausted. “My dad is going to be so pissed, this isn’t just a threat against me. This is bringing Agrabah into it.”

“Aziz,” Mal said softly. “If you need us to back off…”

“No!” Aziz said jerking his head up. “No! It might not even have anything to do with you. I’m a prince I’m always going to be a target for people who want to do things like this.”

“He’s right,” Raina said reluctantly. “Being a prince put a target on his back long before Ben brought you off the Isle.”

“So where do we go from here?” Carlos asked breaking the silence that had built after Raina spoke.

“Tonight, I’m going to call my parents,” Aziz said thoughtfully. “Then tomorrow, I’ll request an official audience with King Ben and let him know what’s going on.”

“I’ll walk Steven out,” Doug said suddenly. “Mal, Evie, would you like to walk with us?”

The girls agreed and Aziz’s room eventually emptied of everyone but Aziz, Carlos, and Jay.

“We’ll crash on your floor,” Jay said easily. “If someone is targeting you, you shouldn’t be alone.”

“Thanks, guys,” Aziz said gratefully.

“It’s what friends do,” Carlos said with a shrug.

Chapter Text

“Mal?” Mal jerked around and came face-to-face with Ben. The purple haired girl had been reading her introductory magic course textbook, in class that day they were expecting to cover dark magic for the first time and the VK would admit to maybe being more curious than she really should be. So Mal had left her room, without Evie, without any of her friends and found a quiet place to do her reading and take some notes.

Things had been so hectic lately that getting a little space to herself was hard for the purple haired girl. In the early hours of the morning, before the other students were getting around and before the fall out of Aziz reaching out to tell his parents about the blackmail attempt Mal just wanted to get some reading done.

Mal wasn’t planning on doing any more dark magic but she didn’t want any unnecessary questions about it either. So being alone and being so engrossed in her book, the girl hadn’t expected to for Ben to call her named. Ben and Mal hadn’t really spoken since he came to her and tried to give her an award for putting her mother in a coma. The sleeping spell Mal had accidentally used, surprise, surprise, was considered dark magic.

Things had been awkward since Mal admitted to spelling Ben (also dark magic according to the book) with a love potion and the subsequent arrival of her mother who then tried to steal a magic wand and kill everyone in Auradon.

Mal really liked Ben. This had been something that was hard for the girl to admit to herself but after risking drowning trying to have him on their first date and then when her mother had threatened his life during the coronation Mal had been terrified. She just wished she knew better how to talk to him. How did you apologize for a love potion?

“Hi Ben,” Mal said awkwardly. She had been tucked away in a corner of the library but when her introductory book referenced another title Mal had decided to grab it as well. There was so much she didn’t know about magic from her time stuck on the Isle. She had been pulling the book from the shelf when Ben startled her.

“I’ve never seen you in the library before,” Ben said, there wasn’t any teasing or accusation in his tone it was simply a fact. “May I ask what you’re reading?”

“Oh,” Mal said. “It’s the book for the intro to magic class Fairy Godmother and your dad insisted on.” Mal was proud to say her voice didn’t reflect too much disdain for the former High King. “It mentioned this other book on magical ethics and I wanted to check it out.”

“Oh, I’ve read that one,” Ben said after a moment of thought. “It’s ‘Between What is Right and What is Easy’ by A. D. Doore, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Mal said showing Ben the cover of the book she had just taken from the shelves. “I didn’t really agree with the quote from the intro book and I wanted to see if the rest of his stuff was like that.”

“You’ll probably find it to be that way,” Ben admitted. “That author has very clear ideas on right and wrong, and good and bad but I’ve always like his stance on second chances.”

Mal clenched her hand tightly around the book. Second chances. That was such a loaded phrase for Mal. A lot of the subtext around their arrival to Auradon had been framed as a ‘second chance’ something that Mal didn’t understand. How could they have a second chance when they had never been given a first chance?

Of course, now, this was probably a true second chance. If being called from the Isle was their first chance then after Maleficent’s appearance and their attempts to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand then a second chance finally seemed appropriate.

“Can we go somewhere and talk?” Ben asked softly. “Just the two of us? I feel there are some things we need to talk about.”

Mal swallowed harshly. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Okay.”

---

Aziz fell onto his bed face first. Mushu who was lounging on the bed squeaked and shuffled out of the way. “Watch it!” Mushu shouted.

“Sorry Mushu,” Aziz muttered into the bed. The young prince was exhausted and all he had done was call his parents. Jasmine and Aladdin had been infuriated that someone was trying to threaten their son. Jasmine had threatened to pull Aziz from the school but the prince reminder her that he couldn’t leave his friends without his protection.

Aladdin told Aziz not to reach out to King Ben, that he would do it. Aladdin was going to be back in Auradon by tomorrow morning. Aziz was under strict orders to keep the note safe and to not tell anyone. Aladdin had also requested that Aziz not be alone if he could help it.

“Hey you need to go,” Mushu said as he jabbed a sharp claw into Aziz’s shoulder. “Your dad wants you with people and as great as I am, I’m not technically supposed to be here.”

Aziz groaned but pushed off his bed and gathered up his stuff. It was Saturday so he didn’t have class but it was early enough that all he wanted was to go back to bed. Still, Aziz wasn’t going disobey his father on this matter.

Almost without his consent, he found himself in front of Jay and Carlos’ door. The other two boys had cleared out when Aziz woke up to call his parents and Aziz was worried they had gone back to sleep. He knocked softly so if they were asleep he wouldn't wake them.

It took a moment but Jay opened the door and let Aziz in with a serious look. Both boys were ready and dressed for the day even if neither of them had left for breakfast yet. “What did your dad say?” Jay asked ushering the other teen inside their room.

Carlos looked up from his tinkering and turned his attention on Aziz. “Is everything okay?” Carlos asked worriedly. Aziz looked stressed but not overly upset.

Aziz flopped into the chair at Jay’s desk and groaned. “Dad’s pissed,” Aziz admitted. “He’s coming to Auradon to talk to Ben and King Adam. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

“How pissed?” Jay asked wanting clarification. “Like assemble an army pissed? Or shout a lot.” Jafar has basically existed in the ‘assemble an army’ level of pissed.

Aziz shrugged helplessly. “I can’t tell,” He admitted. “But my mom is ready to lead the army herself. After the mess of Ben’s coronation, she’s practically spitting fire.”

“So what are you supposed to do?” Jay asked. Aziz had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and a kingdom to think about.

“They don’t want me to be alone until things settle down,” Aziz admitted almost sheepishly. “You are some of the toughest guys I know, so I hope you don’t mind if I hang out today.”

Jay and Carlos both looked shocked at Aziz’s admission that when he thought he might need protection he came to them. “No worries, man,” Jay said with an easy grin. “Carlos and I’ll protect your princely-self.”

“My heroes!” Aziz teased fluttering his eyelashes and pretend to swoon.

“Hey, hey,” Jay said holding his hands up. “Careful throwing the ‘H’ word around like that. We’ve got reps to protect.”

Aziz laughed and promised not to damage the VKs reputations with his hero talk. The boys fell into a friendly and comfortable banter until the call of breakfast could no longer be ignored. The three boys packed up and left for the cafeteria.

The three found Lonnie more than half-asleep in her breakfast like normal with Evie and Doug talking softly and enjoying their food. Mal was nowhere in sight.

“Hey,” Aziz greeted. He gave Lonnie a look but shrugged and snatched a strawberry off her plate when she didn’t move. Evie greeted her friend’s happily and Doug did the same in a slightly more subdued manner.

“Where’s Mal?” Carlos asked curiously. Raina, like Aziz normally, didn’t come to breakfast, but the Isle kids rarely missed a meal.

“She wasn’t in the room when I got up,” Evie said. “Her things were gone, I think she went to the library.”

“Hey! Villains!”

The table collectively stiffened at the call. Since the school's family day the word ‘villain’ had basically been off limits from anyone but the Isle kids. Lonnie jerked upright like she hadn’t been half asleep at the sound of Chad Charming’s voice. The others all came to attention, since the villains’ attack on the town at the edge of Charmington they had been waiting for Chad’s reaction and it seemed like the prince was finally ready to react. Aziz stood and met the other prince at their table.

“Chad, maybe this isn’t the place,” Aziz said soothingly. Chad looked furious and exhausted but ready to start a fight all the same.

“Not the place?” Chad questioned. “Not the place? Their parents didn’t seem to care about whether it was the right place or not!”

The prince’s voice was growing louder and louder drawing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.

“You don’t want to do this here, Chad,” Aziz said his voice growing stern at Chad’s refusal to back down.

“You can’t tell me what I want and what I don’t Aziz!” Chad said thrusting his finger at the other boy. “I’m a prince too! I’m not one of your little peasant friends.” The blond prince moved forward and gave Aziz a shove backward. Immediately Lonnie and Jay moved to intercept the other prince.

“Hands off Chad,” Lonnie said. “You know the rules!” Fighting outside of sports was strictly prohibited if only to stop wars from occurring. Before the Auradon unification that would have been an act of war. It was often forgotten that the students were more than rich children and their actions had long-lasting consequences.

Chad backed up quickly with his hands up in the air. “You should watch yourself, Aziz,” Chad said hatefully. “You, Lonnie, and Raina are always protecting them. You’ll regret it when they turn on you and prove just how bad they are!”

“Walk away,” Lonnie said firmly. She and Aziz didn’t react to the prince’s word but still stood firm against the prince. Lonnie could feel the awkwardness and tension from the Isle kids behind her but between her presence and Aziz, Chad finally backed down.

Lonnie and Aziz quickly left the cafeteria and made sure to take Jay, Carlos, and Evie with them. The Isle kids looked weighed down and exhausted from the brief run-in with the prince. “Where do we go now?” Carlos asked softly.

“Let’s find Mal,” Jay suggested, his shoulders slumped slightly.

Lonnie bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah,” she said “Come on, let’s check the library. Even if she isn’t there we can grab a free study room.”

The group shuffled more than their normal saunter toward the library. Aziz and Lonnie mirrored their friends from the Isle’s posture. Being friends with the Isle kids had not been easy. Lonnie who shared a room with Audrey had to deal with the cold shoulder, taunting remarks, and recently something that Lonnie hesitated to call bullying from the princess. Lonnie’s things had started going missing. Her shampoo and body wash had been emptied and thrown in the trash. Her books had been hidden, but thankfully not destroyed. Some of her things had started to disappear and turn back up broken though. A small music box that she had brought from home, a gift from her older brother, had been smashed last night when she returned to her room.

Lonnie knew that Aziz, being a prince with his own accommodations, hadn’t had the same issues that she did, but Lonnie had noticed that the normally outgoing prince had been not so popular as of late. Lonnie would never blame her new friends for the school’s reaction but it was hard to ignore.

Before they entered the library Lonnie shot Raina a text warning her about the tension in the cafeteria and asked the other girl to swing by the kitchen and grab some snacks when she got around for the day. They had been pushed out of the cafeteria before they could really eat and Lonnie knew they would all be pretty hungry soon.

The group didn’t find Mal but Aziz noticed a free study room and ushered everyone inside. The small windows on the door frosted over as soon as the door closed behind them, one of the little pieces of magic that Auradon enjoyed.

“Does Mal have a phone?” Lonnie asked after everyone had taken a seat at the large table in their study room. “I think I've seen her with one. Did anyone ever help you get one?”

Jay gave a sly look but fished a phone out of his pocket. “No one helped us get one or anything, but,” Jay waved the phone in his hand and grinned. “We have two of them.”

Lonnie sighed when she recognized Audrey’s phone in Evie’s hand. She couldn’t recognize the phone Jay had but she would bet it came from someone who wandered too close when the Isle Kids first arrived.

Aziz laughed, hard. “It’s what they get,” Aziz said in a mirthful voice. “The stipend was supposed to come with a phone, too.”

Lonnie’s eyebrows shot up, she hadn’t known that.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Aziz remarked with a hard edge to his voice. “It’s like they wanted you guys to fail or something.”

“They probably did,” Carlos muttered softly.

---

Mal followed Ben deeper into the library. The young king explained in a soft voice the library had been designed by his mother. Queen Belle had added a smaller personal library for Ben and for the Queen when she was on campus. It would be private enough for their talk.

Ben looked tired, Mal noticed. The young king had darkening circles under his eyes and his hair was slightly disheveled, something the purple haired girl hadn’t noticed before. Mal sympathized with the king for a moment because she was tired too.

Ben almost fell into one of the plush burgundy chairs that littered the room. Mal followed behind, much slower but also took a seat. The purple haired girl did her best to lounge instead of curling up like she so wanted too.

Things with Ben were never easy. Mal had never told anyone of the strange dreams of the Auradon prince she had, back on the Isle. Mal never told anyone about the feelings that had grown when the then-prince had been under the love spell.

Mal wouldn’t say she loved Ben, it was too early for that and Mal had never loved anyone before, but she had feelings for him. When she thought Maleficent was going to hurt Ben, Mal had never felt a fear like she had felt. It had been like she had been dunked into the icy waters that surrounded the Isle.

Now, sitting in front of him Mal would admit she felt something similar. The icy feeling crawled up her back and settled in her chest, weighing heavily on the girl.

“Was it all a lie?” Ben asked softly, breaking Mal from her thoughts.

Her heart practically jumped from her chest and anxiety buzzed hatefully inside of her. A lie? Mal thought to herself. How would it have been a lie?

“No,” Mal forced out breathlessly. The pair fell into silence with only their breathing and the gentle hum of the air conditioning filling the room.

“I used to dream about you,” Mal blurted out after several long minutes of silence. “I’ve never had dreams like that on the Isle. You were so clean, so bright, so good. I didn’t think you were real.”

“Then I got here,” Mal said trailing off. Ben could see her eyes growing distant. “I got here, and there you were. You stood in front of me, a clean and shining as you were in the dream. You were real and you were standing in between me and the wand.”

“So you were after the wand,” Ben said tiredly. “My father insisted that had been the goal all along.”

“It was,” Mal admitted with a nod. “My mother insisted. Failure was not an option. We were to come to Auradon, steal the wand, and free our parents. We were so close and then Jane grabbed the wand.”

Ben sat in solemn silence as Mal pushed forward. “I don’t know if I would have taken the wand if Jane hadn’t,” Mal admitted with a harsh swallow. “But I know I couldn’t give her the wand.”

Ben leaned forward and for the first time since the botched coronation, took Mal’s hands into his own. “You wouldn’t have,” he told her firmly. “You chose good, and you chose it long before your mother showed up.”

“How do you know that?” Mal asked softly. How could Ben know if she was good or not? Mal had done terrible things, she had hurt people, destroyed things. Mal might not be Maleficent, but she wasn’t Belle either.

“Because,” Ben said just as softly. “I used to dream of you too.”

Chapter Text

Aladdin looked down at the letter in his hand.

we know what you are & if you don’t want the whole school to know then meet us at midnight behind the bleachers

The Sultan had arrived at Auradon prep early predawn was just beginning to streak across the sky. It was going to a bright, sunny day, Aladdin could tell. King Ben yawned and blinked sleepily, looking every bit his young age. The young king was seated at his desk in the office he used for official business while at Auradon Prep. When he graduated Aladdin knew he would use the official king’s study where the former High King Adam preferred to work.

“So,” Ben paused to yawn and shot the Sultan an apologetic look. “Excuse me, how may I help you, Sultan? You said it was urgent.”

Aladdin smiled indulgently at the young king but nodded. “I did,” Aladdin began. “Thank you for meeting with me so early in the day, I know you have classes.”

Aladdin put the letter on Ben’s desk and slid it forward toward the young king. His previously cheerful face shifted to a more serious mask. “Aziz found this in his locker a not long ago,” Aladdin said somberly. “He immediately reached out to me. Agrabah does not take these types of threats lightly. Aziz is our only heir his safety is my primary concern.”

King Ben frowned at the note and looked up at the Sultan, obviously confused. “I don’t understand,” Ben admitted. “This is a blackmail attempt?”

“That was our thought yes,” Aladdin said with a nod. “We are concerned because Aziz did not meet them as they demanded. There has been no retaliation, yet, but as a precaution, Aziz was instructed not to be alone. I also asked Genie to keep an eye on him. Aziz doesn’t know that part.”

“Fairy Godmother did report Genie’s presence when the wards surrounding the school noticed him,” King Ben said thoughtfully. He continued to frown down at the note. “I’ll admit, I don’t understand the threat.”

Aladdin inhaled deeply and let his shoulders slump with his exhale. “You wouldn’t,” the Sultana agreed tiredly. “This stretches back to before you were born. Not even Aziz knows the full story.”
Ben frowned and motioned for the Sultan to take a seat. Aladdin nodded gratefully and sank into the sturdy chair offered to him. “I’m certain you’ve noticed the animosity between your Agrabah and Auradon, yes?”

Ben nodded.

“Years ago, when the Isle was first proposed many kingdoms opposed the program,” Aladdin explained. “The first draft of the proclamation that dictated who would be sent to the Isle included many members of royalty, myself included. It did not allow for kingdom specific pardons, like the one I granted Iago or my father.”

Ben was visibly startled, but Aladdin pushed on.

“Aziz knows the story of his grandfather and how King Adam pushed for his incarceration on the Isle,” Aladdin explained. “He knows that my father surrendered himself to the Isle to protect the kingdom. He doesn’t know that I spent three years on the Isle.”

“What?” Ben shouted in surprise. Never before had he heard that Aladdin had been on the Isle.

“King Eugene Fitzherbert of Corona, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, King Kovu of the Pridelands, and myself all served sentences of three years on the Isle of the Lost,” Aladdin told the boy-king. “Others served sentences as well but ours were the lengthiest because we fought so hard against the Isle. Jasmine, of course, wouldn’t see me off alone she and Queen Rapunzel followed King Eugene followed us into our exile.”

“Aziz was born on the Isle of the Lost,” Ben said, almost horrified.

Aladdin nodded slowly.

“Whoever this is can challenge his inheritance of Agrabah’s throne,” Ben continued his min racing. The Isle was a grey spot of citizenship. Many of the villains on the Isle did not have Auradon citizenship, instead, they retained the citizenship of their former kingdoms. Auradoni citizenship could only be bestowed at birth or granted at marriage. All of those born on the Isle of the Lost did not have Auradoni citizenship.

“Not in Agrabah,” Aladdin said firmly. “He is my son and heir. In Auradon court he can be challenged based on his lack of citizenship, yes. While Aziz concluded that the would-be-blackmailer is concerned with my father, Aziz’s grandfather and his ‘villain status’, Jasmine and I fear they mean something far more sinister.”

--
“No, no, no, no,” Lonnie whispered hopelessly. Dragon scales climbed steadily higher on her hands, nails lengthened and sharpened into claws. “Not here!”

“Jay!” Lonnie hissed but she cut it off quickly at the feeling of fangs in her mouth. The sleepy kid from the Isle shot up in his seat and swore violently when he saw her.

“Your ears,” Jay whispered tearing his beanie from his head and shoving it into Lonnie’s hands. Lonnie tugged it on and pulled it down over her ears. “Go!”

Without a look at the teacher, Lonnie jumped up and sprinted from the room. “Uh sorry, teach, Lonnie isn’t feeling well,” Lonnie heard Jay lie as she rushed out. The scales continued to crawl up her arms, Lonnie could feel it. She needed to be somewhere safe. Her room was out of the question, Audrey could come back at any time and Lonnie did not want the pretty, perfect princess finding her covered in scales.

Lonnie wasn’t sure what had caused the scales to appear so suddenly. That was a lie, Lonnie admitted to herself. The history class that she had just fled was more than enough to cause her emotion to flair. They had been discussing the founding of the Isle of the Lost and rage just boiled up in Lonnie’s chest. Even as she thought about it now a dark fire flickered inside of her.

“Fuck,” Lonnie swore as she finally made it to the hallway that held Aziz’s dorm room. Her long-time friend had given her a key to his room where Mushu stayed in case her scales caused problems.
It took two tries to get the key into the lock, but she managed to get the door open and slipped into the room. “Mushu!” Lonnie shouted.

“Lonnie?” The little red guardian dragon called back. He had been sitting on Aziz’s bed reading a book. “What happened?”

“It’s worse!” Lonnie cried, her words slurring slightly around the fangs in her mouth.

“Wow it is worse,” Mushu remarked calmly as he looked over the girl. Scales had crept up her arms past her shoulders and up onto her face. Her nails had fully turned to claws. Lonnie had fangs in her mouth and when she pulled the borrowed beanie off her head her hands found the pointed ears that had started Jay in class.

“Mushu!” Lonnie cried out again. She couldn’t believe her guardian was being so blasé about the situation.

“Sorry, sorry!” Mushu said waving off her concern. The small red dragon took Lonnie’s hand and looked it over. “Deep breaths, Lonnie.”

Lonnie swallowed around her fangs and tried to calm herself. She knew the scales would go away when she was calm but between the fire in her chest and bitter taste of fear in her mouth Lonnie got the idea that the scales were going to hang around for a while.

“Lonnie?” A voice through the door called.

“Don’t!” Lonnie shouted as she jumped from her spot on the bed as if she could stop the door from opening.

Mal’s purple head peeks past the door and the Isle kid’s eyes widened. “Oh wow,” she said. The girl moved further into the room and locked the door like Lonnie should have done from the beginning. “Jay was right the scales are spreading.”

Lonnie whined and fell back onto Aziz’s bed. After her flash of fright from Mal opening the door, Lonnie could feel her face had changed. Mushu confirmed it for her and explained that a new line of scales had appeared on her forehead and down the bridge of her nose.

“I can’t control it,” Lonnie whispered into the blankets on her friend’s bed. “I’m going to get caught.”

Hands lifted Lonnie from the bed and Mal’s determined eyes met Lonnie’s. “What happens if King Adam finds out?”

Lonnie swallowed and tried to think rationally about what would happen if the King found out about her magic. “An unregistered magic-user is subject to a fine,” Lonnie recited from memory. “My parents could afford it but it would be a problem. It would reflect badly on them.”

“Okay,” Mal said calmly. “What else?”

“I could lose my place at Auradon Prep,” Lonnie admitted. “I’m only here by the King’s grace and being an unregistered magic-user would be enough to make that go away.”

“Are you at risk of being sent to the Isle?” Mal asked her mind automatically going to what she knew to be the United States of Auradon’s worst punishment.

“I-I,” Lonnie stuttered. “I don’t know. I’m a dragon, Mal. You know what the Beast King thinks of dragons.”

Mal’s eyes flash green for the first time since Fairy Godmother bound her powers and both girls gasped. “Yeah,” Mal said weakly. “I know what Ben’s dad thinks of dragons.”

--

Jafar sneered at the Evil Queen. The foolish witch hadn’t stopped complaining since they left the Isle and it was getting on Jafar’s last nerve. Jafar hated idle chatter, he had beaten that habit out of Jay early on. He had no time or patience for a toddler’s babbling and the boy had been a quick study for once in his miserable life.

Jafar often wondered how he raised such an oaf for a son. Jay was all muscle and very little brain, never mind Jafar could never be bothered to teach his son much of anything. Jay, the stupid boy not worthy of the name Jafar had gifted him, reminded him of the wretched street rat Aladdin more than himself.

Jafar won his battles with magic and words, though the former grand vizier was not afraid to raise his hand if necessary. For all that Jay quickly learned his father had no patience for trivial babble the boy still had to be corrected, often.

“My pretty, pretty, pretties,” Cruella mumbled to her new set of furs. The vicious woman wasted no time to collect new furs. The garments stunk of blood and whatever materials the woman used to treat them. Jafar felt his lip curling in disgust. He could not stand these two women. At least Maleficent had style, had plans! The Evil Queen only dreamed of one princess dead, her only crime being beautiful. Cruella had been imprisoned for animal cruelty! Jafar was a supreme magical being, a djinn and before that a sorcerer. For all that the Evil Queen was well versed in magic, she set her sights too small.
Even now all she spoke of was her revenge. Jafar used honeyed words and promises of death to manipulate the old fool into doing what he wanted. It would be easier if he had his staff, the serpent-headed staff would bolster his hypnotic powers and not be anywhere as noticeable as the djinn powers would be. Not that he could use them without his lamp a harsh, deep ache throbbed in his chest when he thought of the distance between himself and the cursed lamp that controlled him.

They needed power. If they were ever to strike at Auradon, at the King who had so foolishly imprisoned them Jafar needed his real staff and the lamp and he knew exactly where to find it.
“Evil Queen,” Jafar purred. “Care to test your potions? We have waited long enough. It’s time to strike.”

The old witch finally stopped her complaining and for once Jafar saw the scheming villain he knew the woman to be. A smirk crawled across her face. “A potion, Jafar? Something so simple?”
“Your specialty,” he told her. “We need the power to make our move and a better way to get it than to simply walk in and take it?”

The Evil Queen cackled. “Oh yes, a perfect move,” She agreed. “It’s past time we make a move to punish our enemies.”

“And our naughty children,” Jafar remarked idly. “They too, require a reminder of just who they crossed.”

“Oh yes,” the Evil Queen said thoughtfully. “My dear Evie needs to remember just why we always listen to mommy.”

Chapter Text

Aladdin sighed heavily and rubbed his temples in hopes that the headache would go away. His meeting with King Ben had stretched on for hours, the young king had demanded several truths from the Sultan and Aladdin had been happy to give them. His time on the Isle of the Lost wasn’t easy to talk about, it had been hard to see Jasmine suffer as she had. Aladdin had been used to the conditions those on the Isle lived in, even if Agrabah had never been quite that bad.

Aladdin couldn’t even imagine how much worse the Isle had gotten when it was already hell on earth immediately after its creation. How the kids must have suffered. The Sultan pulled his mind away from the Isle and glanced at the clock, almost lunchtime. Aladdin planned on joining his son and his friends for lunch. With the High King being school-aged, many of the Rulers found themselves working around his class schedule when possible. This meant that oftentimes kings and queens had the chance to have lunch with their children so a royal parent joining the kids for lunch was fairly normal.

Aladdin found his son at a table with his friends or some of them at least. Aziz’s grin lit up as soon as he saw his father. “Dad!” Aziz greeted his father with a hug.

“Hey, kid,” the Sultan greeted. “Hello, everyone. I hope you don’t mind me joining you for lunch?”

“Of course not!” Evie said sweetly. “We’re honored.”

“Oh yeah very honored,” Jay mocked teasingly. “Overwhelmed with honor.”

Carlos and Raina giggled into their hands and Aziz rolled his eyes at his friend. “Ignore him, pops. Jay is still jealous that I beat him this morning at that fighting game he likes.”

“Oi! I thought you hero kids didn’t lie,” Jay said loudly. “‘cos that’s a load of bulls… uh, crap.”

Aladdin had stopped Jay’s cursing by simply ryebrow. He personally didn’t care, but he didn’t want his son’s friend to get in trouble. Aladdin, still full from snacking with Ben all day during their meetings, decided that a full lunch plate wasn’t worth it, instead just stole pieces from his son’s plate.

“So did you talk to Ben?” Aziz asked nervously. The cafeteria isn't the place for this conversation but Aziz needed his father’s reassurance that something was going to be done.

“ I did,” Aladdin admitted. The Sultan offered his son an encouraging look. “It’s settled for the moment. Same rules, don’t go anywhere alone if you get any more notes you call me immediately. I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the night or if you are in class. Call me.”

“We’ll make sure he does,” Jay promised. “We’ll keep an eye out for him too.”

“Where are Lonnie and Mal? Aladdin asked. He looked around but couldn’t see either girl in the cafeteria.

“Mal went to check on Lonnie after their last class,” Evie explained. Aladdconcludedcame to the conclusion that Lonnie was likely having issues with her transformation.

“It’s getting worse,” Aziz muttered. Jay has explained to the table how Lonnie had to rush out of class because her scales were getting more noticeable and her ears were gaining a very distinctive point.
“I’ll let Shang and Mulan know,” Aladdin promised. His voice sounded tired and the kids all seemed to wilt at the tone. What could they do when even the adults seemed to be struggling? “Winter break isn’t far away. All we have to do is hold out until then. I spoke to King Ben about the four of you coming with either me and Jasmine or Mulan and Shang and he agreed. Good thing too.”

“What do you mean?” Evie asked curiously.

“The plan was for the four of you to return to the Isle for the winter holidays,” Aladdin said. “This was before we learned the conditions of the Isle, and King Ben made it clear that no one has to ever return to the Isle unless they want to.”

The Isle kids had paled dramatically at the idea of returning to the Isle.

“We can’t go back there,” Jay said firmly. “Not after we betrayed Maleficent.”

“Our parents would be so mad,” Carlos agreed, looking shaken.

“And that’s not even considering the other villains,” Evie added. “And with our parents off of the Isle, we wouldn’t have protection from everyone else.”

What a terrible situation to be in for these kids, Aladdin thought to himself. Reliant on their parents for protection while also fearing their wrath the same time. Children shouldn’t have to fear their parents.
“That’s why King Ben and I worked it out,” the Sultan explained. “Officially, Mal and Evie will be spending the break with Lonnie and the Generals and officially Jay you and Carlos will be with Aziz and me.”
“You said officially,” Evie said softly. She hoped that meant they wouldn’t be separated. Auradon was strangely obsessed with splitting the VKs by gender and it made no sense to the Isle kids
Aladdin nodded and smiled at the princess. “That’s right, officially you’ll be split between our kingdoms but in reality, we’d never separate you if you didn’t want it,” Aladdin promised firmly. “Now, let’s finish up and I’ll help you sneak some lunch to Lonnie and Mal.”

–-
Evie was fascinated with Raina. The copper-haired girl with a fox-like grin was the closest thing to a fellow princess that Evie had, with Raina being a Lady of Sherwood and her father a Lord under King Richard the Lionheart.

Lonnie had been a firm friend almost from the beginning and Aziz folded himself into the group rather easily, especially after the revelation that he was a side-step from being a villain kid himself. Raina, though, was more reserved than her friends but after watching the girl hunt and deliver the dwarf who had a hand in attempting to blackmail Aziz Evie saw a ruthlessness in her.
“Were those letters to your family?” Evie asked breaking the silence that had overcome the group.

Since Aladdin’s departure, the kids had found themselves once again in Aziz’s room going through the rules and regulations of Auradon Prep just in case Chad tried something. Aladdin had offered to take letters or pass messages along for Raina and Lonnie both of whom eagerly agreed. Lonnie just asked for more guidance on her transformation and Raina had disappeared back to her room to grab a stack of letters.

“Yeah,” Raina acknowledged with a bitter smile. “All my mail is screened because of the unrest back home. Lonnie and Aziz normally send out my mail but I trust the Sultan to get my letters home.”

“You’re a prisoner here aren’t you?” Evie said finally voicing a thought she had held back for some time. Thhers paused their own researcwithwhen they caught up to Evie’s question. “Not just a bargaining chip, but an actual prisoner.”

Raina sighed heavily and set her book aside Evie could see a heavy weight seemed to settle on her shoulders. Quietly Lonnie leaned over to rest her shoulder against’s Raina’s own in a show of quiet support that Evie recognized having seen the other girl do it to Jay and Aziz before.

“What I told you before is true,” Raina explained. “As long as I’m here, my dad wouldn’t risk a war with Auradon. So I’m here all the time.”

A stern look crossed her face. “No breaks, no school trips, nothing. Legally I’m not allowed to leave campus until I’ve graduated,” Raina continued angrily. “I haven’t seen my parents since my first year here, not really. I saw my dad once when he came with King Richard to talk to the Beast King. We didn’t get to talk but I got to see him.”

Evie cooed sadly at the other girl and cautiously reached to offer a hand in comfort. Raina gratefully took Evie’s hand and leaned more into Lonnie.

“Is this a bad time to ask about your fox form?” Carlos pipped up. “Because I know you slept on me that one night, I woke up with a fox tail in my mouth.”

Raina snorted wetly, she was holding back tears Evie could see the shine in her amber-colored eyes. “You shouldn’t snore so loud then,” Raina teased back. “What do you want to know? It’s kind of an open secret.”
“Open?” Aziz spoke up. “We’ve been friends for ages and I didn’t know you could do that.”

“But there are rumors,” Evie said thoughtfully. “Even we heard them, we haven’t been here for very long.”

“Yeah, it’s hard to explain,” Raina said. “But listen everyone this is a secret beyond just me.”

“You entire kingdom can transform into foxes?” Mal asked. Evie caught on about the same time but when she saw Raina shake her head it came to her.

“Everyone in your kingdom has an animal transformation?” Evie guessed.

“Right on, princess. All of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest have can do what I do but my family, we’re the only ones with a fox transformation,” Rain said. Raina winked at Evie and nodded her foxy grin stretching across her face and suddenly Evie found herself with a lap full of a fluffy fox.

“Oh! Can I pet you?” Evie asked eagerly. Raina’s fur was a bright russet color and looked softer than anything she had felt before.

“Oh me too!” Lonnie shouted.

Raina nodded her head and Evie let her fingers sink into Raina’s soft fur. “Oh! Your fur is so soft!” Evie said happily. “Mal, here feel. It’s soft like the clouds here look!”

Almost reluctantly Mal reached out and stoked over Raina’s fur and Evie saw her eyes widen before she jerked back. The feeling was a little much for the half-fae. The boys crowded around Rania and by default Evie as the fox-girl was still in her lap.

“Are foxes dogs?” Carlos asked nervously as he let his fingers gently trail over the soft fur. “Because my moabsolutely kill you for your fur.”

“Do not bite me,” Jay said firmly to the grinning fox before grabbing a quick pet.

“Don’t worry Carlos we won’t let your mom get anywhere Raina, especially when she’s in fox form,” Aziz promised, in that mvie really thought he looked like his father. She sighed dreamily at him for a moment. Without warning, Raina shifted back to human form. The transformation was just as smooth as the first time. One moment fox and the next a human, the human was still in Evie’s lap.

Raina blushed a little and laughed when she realized she was still on Evie’s lap. “Sorry princess,” Raina said sheepishly. “You were pretty comfy, I forgot.” She quickly moved from Evie’s lap and back over by Lonnie.
“It’s okay,” Evie assured her, a little breathlessly. “You’re cute when you blush.”

“Damn E, you made her turn redder than her fox form,” Jay teased when Raina’s face flushed red all over. Raina laughed good-naturedly, face still red, and Evie smiled too.

–-

“Come to me my huntsman,” the Evil Queen commanded. She stood before a cauldron that was close to bubbling over. A large mirror was at her back and a thin evil man wasn’t far. A sickly green smoke began pouring from the cauldron the air stunk of sulfur and decay. A figure began to form out of the sickly-colored smoke. A man, or a wolf, or both the figure seemed to swirl together becoming man and beast all at once for a brief moment before settling into a thin and haggard form that seemed to slink out of the cauldron and cower by the queen’s side.

“Yes, my Queen?” A voice croaked, stuck somewhere between man and beast and truly neither. “What is it you require?”

“Oh Humbert,” The Evil Queen cooed twirling her fingers. “My stupid, stupid huntsman your Queen required your skills, which is the only reason you still exist.”

The tormented being groaned but bowed low to his queen. After he had failed to provide Snow White’s heart the Evil Queen had seen fit to curse her huntsman trapping him forever in this stabetween at her all never more corporal than he was now.

An evil smile stretched across the old queen’s face and she waved the other man forward. Jafar, who had been watching and waiting, eagerly stepped forward. “And you’re sure this thing can do what we need him to?” Jafar said with a sneer. The beaten dog of the huntsman didn’t look like much.

“Of course, he can,” The Evil Queen simpered. Her hand managed to grab the poor huntsman and her long unkept nails tore into his flesh in a way that he hadn’t experienced in years. “Humbert has learned his lesson about defying his Queen and if he ever wants to be granted the sweet release of death then he will more and eagerly do what he’s told.”
“Good,” Jafar said sharply. “But I refuse to rely on your word alone.”

Faster than a striking snake Jafar grabbed the huntsman. Humbert gasps in pain and shock, no one but the Evil Queen had been able to touch him in years. The former Royal Vizier pulled Humbert’s face close to his own and Jafar’s eyes began to glow a deep red.

“You will go to the Museum of Cultural History and retrieve my staff and my lamp,” Jafar commanded. “You will not touch the lamp beyond what is required to bring it to me.”
“I will go to the Museum of Cultural History and retrieve your staff and your lamp,” Humbert groaned obediently, Jafar’s magic enforcing the command even over the compulsions the Evil Queen had over him. “I won’t touch the lamp beyond what is required to bring it to you.”

“Good,” Jafar said. “Go tonight and return before dawn.”

“And tomorrow?” The Evil Queen demanded, her distaste for Jafar’s leadership clear.

“Tomorrow my dear,” Jafar purred. “Tomorrow we start our quest for revenge properly. Tomorrow I get my power back.”

The Evil Queen watched him leave a satisfied smirk on his face and she felt her lips curl in disgust. Jafar was foolish to believe that he had her under his thumb. The man’s hypnosis was akin to a party trick, especially when compared to the power Maleficent casually threw around even under the yoke of the barrier on the Isle.

“My dear Humbert,” The Evil Queen cooed into Humbert’s ear as her own magic started to squeeze through the cracks Jafar had left until her man was hers once again. “Bring me the lamp, when you get the lamp bring it to me first. Only to me.”

Humbert groaned as if in terrible pain and sunk into a low bow. “Yes my Queen,” he said. “It is as you command.”

The Evil Queen smiled and watched Humbert disappear. The spell she had cursed her huntsman with enforced loyalty in a way that she hadn’t been able to force before now beaten and trapped as he was she knew he wouldn’t fail her this time, he wasn’t able to fail. When he brought her Jafar’s lamp and thus gave her three wishes and all of Jafar’s powers at her fingertips she would begin her revenge and remind her foolish daughter that mommy knows best.